


A New Decima

by Ayz283



Series: Home Tutor Hitman Reborn! [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, BAMF Haruno Sakura, Barely any Naruto research, Based on KHR manga and things I vaguely remember from Naruto, Canon-Typical Mature Themes, Canon-Typical Violence, Crack Treated Seriously, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen, Haruno Sakura-centric, Low-key crack, Possibly Incorrect Medical Anything, Reborn (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!) is Best Teacher, Vague Medical Descriptions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-23 11:34:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 57,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23710846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ayz283/pseuds/Ayz283
Summary: Sakura vaguely understands how reincarnation works. She does. But still, it's not supposed to be with her memories intact, right?
Relationships: Sakura & Reborn (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!)
Series: Home Tutor Hitman Reborn! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707685
Comments: 227
Kudos: 949
Collections: A Collection of Beloved Inserts, Reincarnation and Transmigration, The Last Rec List





	1. Reborn!

" _100%_ again, Sawada. Good job," though Nezu—the chemistry teacher—praises her, his tone is almost bored. "See class, your student council president can excel academically and athletically. It's not impossible." Sakura accepts her paper and then tucks it out of sight.

She can feel the weight of envious eyes on her and she does not care for it.

Nezu, her least liked teacher ( _and the most incompetent_ ), seems to be snidely picking on Yamamoto Takeshi next, considering his pointed glare over to the sheepish boy.

It's a pointless task. Popular and friendly to a fault, Nezu would only bring trouble upon himself if he was picking on Takeshi openly. Meanwhile, Takeshi takes it all in stride as he laughs at the sight of his own near-failing paper.

She wonders how he is still on the baseball team with marks such as his.

Well, it was not as if they could kick him off, he is the next ace after all.

Sakura sighs as she gazes out the window, her chin resting on her palm.

She has already studied ahead of the material and have flipped through her textbook a few times. Middle school is very much a chore. Long hours sitting down, interacting with peers whose only care is to gossip at all hours of the day, if it was possible to die of boredom this civilian life of hers would do her in years ago.

A prickling sensation crawls up her arms.

She wonders who has the time to stalk her this time. Considering, it's been like this for the last day or so, she ignores it.

..

* * *

..

"I'm home!" Sakura calls as she enters her childhood home and tucks away her shoes. There was a time when she used to kick them off but... that was another life.

"Oh, Sa-chan, welcome back! You're home early!" Sawada Nana calls from the kitchen.

Sakura hums in agreement, entering the kitchen and setting her bag on a chair. Today, she did not feel like staying back to complete her share of Student Council paperwork, it made more sense for her to return home. She could always wake earlier tomorrow morning to catch up on planning the Sports Festival after all.

Sometimes, she wonders what it would be like to have a team instead of only her on the board.

But that would be like wondering what would life be like without Hibari Kyoya scaring her school into obedience. Useless daydreams but nice in theory. It would mean less work on her end.

But its fine, she's used to being a one-woman show.

"There was an interesting flyer in the mail today," Nana continues, content with even the slightest things, "Will raise your child to be the new leader of the next generation." Sakura spots the flyer on the dining table and picks it up to inspect it.

"Social skill doesn't matter. All it says in return is food and a place to sleep! Doesn't that sound amazing? I've never seen a promotion like this before. He must be from one of those professional business schools for young men!" Sakura is silent as she scrutinises the hard-paper flyer.

She got to give credit to this Reborn though, it's professionally done, which is at odds with the blatant suspiciousness of the whole affair.

"Kaa-san, this sounds like a scam," Sakura says, tracing the elegant writing font and the shiny print of everything.

She appreciates that at least this Reborn did not just write down his details on any random piece of paper.

It's a wonder that her mother does not get scammed more often really.

"..Wait, I have social skills!" She retorts belatedly.

Her mother gives her a knowing look and Sakura huffs not looking at her. They have had this argument many times and Sakura does not want to rehash it now.

Just then, she hears the ringing of the doorbell. Nana lights up even more. "That must be him! I called him earlier."

Sakura sighs exasperated at her carefree mother. "Okay, let me handle this." She makes her way to the front door and opens it but sees no one.

"Ciaossu!" A high-pitched voice calls out and her eyes fall to the immaculately dressed child, holding a briefcase. "I'm Reborn."

Sakura blinks twice in astonishment.

Well, if it was a child's prank then that made things easier. Unless he ran away from home or something.

She would probably have to call the police or Kyoya, probably the police. She could not imagine Kyoya interacting with children. He gives even adults nightmares after all.

"Oh, where's my manners? Please, come in." She moves aside to allow the black-haired, black-eyed, fedora-wearing child space to enter, removing his shoes and proceeds to lead him to the kitchen.

He seems like a harmless child.

"Oh, whose this, Sa-chan? He's so cute!" Nana squeals, hands clasped together but Sakura's attention was taken by the child who for some reason hops onto her dining table.

It would have been rude if he was any bigger but mostly it allows them to face him without craning their heads down.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck raise.

Her fingers twitch to non-existent shuriken which was once a staple of every day.

The child hasn't done anything dangerous, not a twitch nor a threat— _But he smirks_ , and all at once, Sakura knows she's been duped.

It was as if a switch was flipped and that non-threat on her porch became the most dangerous thing in the room—Heck, the entire neighbourhood.

_Fucking hell._

Sakura's been too careless.

This civilian life has made her soft, leading to her grave error in judgement.

It only takes one mistake to die after all.

She knew that intimately well.

Her mind flashes to the nearest knives, which would be the kitchen ones, no more than 5 metres away from her but was 5 metres too many.

"Ciaossu! I am Reborn, Sawada Sakura's home tutor. I have arrived to evaluate her." Reborn's black eyes show no trace of a joke and she dares not take her eyes off him to glance at the no doubt surprised features of her mother's— _Her mother!_

Sakura's heart thumps loudly in her chest, the heavy beats pulsing in her head.

Suddenly, she feared for the safety of her sweet airhead mother.

"Kaa-san." She forced her eyes to drift to her mom's, even as she always kept Reborn in her line of sight, "Weren't we out of milk? Maybe you should go grocery shopping.. I'll stay here and vet Reborn's qualifications." She grabs her wallet from her bag and hands it over, not wanting her mother to stay even a second longer to search for her own.

"Would you, Sa-chan? I don't know what I would do without you. I'll be right back, okays?" Nana looked worried but Sakura just reassured her to take her time.

That this might take a while.

The tension only grew thicker as they waited until they hear the front door click shut and then the sounds of her fading further away from the house.

After that, the threat in her house wasted no time.

"My true line of work is assassination. I am the World's Greatest Hitman, here to train you into becoming an astounding mafia boss." His eyes betray nothing. His body tells no lies.

Sakura clenches her fist when he mentioned hitman, of course he wasn't a civilian, not after that stunt to let him into her house.

Against any trained adversary she is wholly unprepared.

She was raised a civilian after all.

"You will lead the Vongola. It is the mafia's biggest and strongest family, with a long history dating back 400 years ago." Sakura's brows furrow, trying to desperately recall any information about mafia only to come up sorely lacking and then frustrated at her lack of knowledge.

"Mafia... in Italy?" Her tone is wary and she carefully watches as he clicks open that suitcase of his.

She can only watch as he first takes out a multitude of weaponry in the form of guns that she had no name to and then papers, papers and papers of official documents.

"Yes, the base of operations for Vongola and mafia, in general, is in Italy." He takes one of the fancier, heavier guns to dismantle it in a second and then reassembles it the next. She knows he's doing it as a show for her—Of power and skill.

It's a threat and promise all in one.

They both know he could do it much faster.

He watches her and she him.

Finally, she asks the question they were both waiting for.

"Why me?"

Her voice is level and it does not betray her fear or her disbelief nor any other emotion. He reaches specifically for a stack of papers and hands it to her.

She recognizes a genealogy when she sees one.

"You are a descendant of the first leader of Vongola: Primo, otherwise known as Giotto or Ieyasu when he migrated to Japan."

Sakura can't help herself, really she couldn't, she scoffs. " _Me_?"

It's _ridiculous_.

The disbelief flows out before she could turn it into something more neutral.

It's the craziest thing she has heard in _years_.

The outrageous nature of this entire confrontation sinks into her.

"After abdicating from Vongola, Primo decided to settle down in Japan and you are his only heir," Reborn continues, not even deigning to acknowledge her break in her neutrality, which she did not care to put back in place.

Sakura barks a laugh, short and bitter.

"I'm nobody special." Her smile is rueful but she concedes, playing along, if only to see where this goes. "Whose side is it from?" she asks, even as she traces down the names leading to one Sawada Iemitsu.

Reborn stays silent and she can feel his gaze on her.

She feels relatively confident he's not going to kill her and her mom straight but maybe its the bitterness that she tried to long bury deep inside that makes her bold. She hums, thinking that it's pretty convenient that her father was dead and she couldn't question him.

"If I'm the heir.. why wasn't I trained earlier then?" There was a lot of things wrong with this conversation, _a lot_ , but that was Sakura's biggest question.

Because it did not make sense.

Nobody just wastes the younger, more impressionable years, not by choice, where it would have been the ideal time to condition your heir however you wish.

Reborn hands her other documents and she peers at it as he speaks, "Primo's cousin took over Vongola and his line continued until the Vongola Nono, who previously had 3 sons."

Sakura could only raise an eyebrow as Reborn continued telling exactly how Nono's sons met their end.

She looked through the papers, including the letter from Nono himself (with a flame on it? What? Is that a sign of legitimacy? Is it suppose to mean something to her?). She reads through descriptions of how, when and where (if known) the heirs met their ends. She scrutinises it and could find no flaw in their authenticity.

Sakura has been introduced into politics at the ripe age of 13 (the first time) under the Godaime Hokage.

She knew more than she cared to about leading people on, charming and the cutthroat world of politicians. She can tell when papers are forged by their quality and can recognise the handwriting and signature of every single important player in the field.

— _But that was another life._

This new life could not differentiate the supposes handwriting of Vongola Nono from another boss or either of them from a masterful forger.

All she has this time is her wits and she'll have to make do with them.

This could be an elaborate ruse—and if so, what was the true goal—or it could be the truth.

If Sakura was honest to herself, she knows which one she wants it to be.

She's been living a peaceful life. She's smart, talented and she has a bright future.

Everyone thinks so.

But she would be lying if she said it was enough. This life she's been faking splendidly as a civilian for 13 years.

—But she cannot do it anymore.

_She refuses to._

If that means jumping onto whatever ship this prodigy child is sailing so be it.

She'll take those odds.

"Okay... I'm not saying I am completely convinced but.. I don't need to be at right this moment. If you are training me, then I won't complain." Brown eyes stare down black as she continues, "What would you be training me in, however?"

Reborn-sensei— _her new home tutor_ —gets a glint in his eye.

It promises pain, chaos and plentiful troublesome situations.

Instead of sending shivers down Sakura's spine, instead of doing the smart thing and running for the hills, anticipation rises from the base of her spine to flood her whole body.

He smirks, evil intentions clear. "I will train you until I find you to be the perfect Vongola Decimo."

The tips of her fingers tingle. She would love the challenge.

Sakura can't resist smiling back, all teeth, knowing that there is no going back now.

How she relishes in it.

The end of this boring life of hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I've been pasting everything in HTML. Many thanks to @Sarielgrace for aiding my dumb ass. Now you guys get line breaks. (It's so beautifulllll)
> 
> 2\. Reborn is such a master of disguise that when he disguises as an innocent child who can tell the difference?
> 
> 3\. In case you've forgotten before the Varia act, Tsuna honestly thought his dead-beat dad was dead and 'became a star'. I only call him dead-beat because Tsuna thought so since he only ever came home 3 times or smt and when he was he drinks and is embarrassing? It's honestly not a good impression I don't blame Tsuna.
> 
> 4\. I think you guys give Nana too much flake. She's a great mom. I know she thanked Kyoko for having a Dame-son as a boyfriend. But I saw it as one of those meet the parents kind of things. 'Oh, you're so pretty! What are you doing dating my son?' You know those joking things. It just doesn't come off as really joking as I'm sure Nana was genuinely relieved that her son had friends and a social life. This is the son who she knows is lazy and had no motivation. Excuse her for being so relieved that he wouldn't die alone and saying he has never been alive. I think she saw this as a positive experience. He's finally passionate for something! And not just skating by in life! I would be relieved too.


	2. The Problem of Mochida

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. This chapter is double the norm. Lucky you. But usually chapters only go around 2000 words.
> 
> 2\. Oh ah, I see some comments be like can't wait for the action and hahahaha this is not your story my friend. This is very much not your story. In this story, everyone just kinda talks, and that's it. Yes. That is it. Sorry to disappoint.

When Nana returns home, it is to the sight of her daughter and the child drinking peacefully at the dining table.

"I'm home, Sa-chan," she calls out in that happy tone of hers. Sakura stands to immediately help her mum put away all the groceries she inevitably ended up buying. It figures that she got side-tracked in her excitement at having a guest.

"Welcome home, okaa-san. Reborn-sensei is staying now. I checked his credentials and it's pretty amazing." She did check said credentials and found a double degree in law and engineering, and even a master's in mathematics.

Why would a hitman need mathematics was well beyond her to guess.

She debates asking whether if it was forged or bought but did not want to offend her teacher in the first 30 minutes she had him. Besides, Reborn made her seem like she's done nothing in her 13 years here.

It is really typical of prodigies, even Kakashi-sensei became a jounin pretty young and then proceeded to ace anbu in every way, going on to be the longest living active anbu.

"Oh, that's great! You can call me Mama while you're here. What's your favourite dish? I can whip it up for dinner to celebrate!" Nana was practically bursting from happiness, happy at the thought of another person staying in the house.

Sawada Nana, Sakura found, is a naturally caring person. She may be easy-going but she has a lot of love to give—to Sakura, to her dead husband, to their neighbours. Sakura, more than anyone, knows what it is like to love more than anyone else and to not be able to stop.

Sakura regrets that she's always been too independent for Nana to care for as she should a normal child. She's never gone to Nana for advice on boys or friends or school. She has never really leaned on Nana for anything since she could understand the world and her place in it.

She's never needed to.

"Anything you have already cooked would be fine, Maman. Next time, I would make sure to tell you before barging in like this."

"Such a gentleman!" Nana could only have been more taken by Reborn if he was Iemitsu arriving from his overseas work. Nana shoots her a look which makes Sakura rolls her eyes but bite her tongue. "Sa-chan, could you show Reborn-kun where he would be staying?"

"Okay." Sakura motions to Reborn's briefcase, "Would you like me to carry that for you?" She does not expect him to say yes but her mum would kill her if she was not at least polite enough to ask.

"No, that's fine." He grabs his briefcase of weapons and other things before hopping off the desk.

Sakura climbs the stairs first. She does not really want him behind her but a little trust has to be given if they were to be in a teacher-student relationship. This would not work if she was completely unreasonable after all.

"That is the master bedroom." She points to her mother's room before moving on. She knocks once at the following door with the cherry blossom sign, "my room." She motions to 2 other doors, "Guest rooms and then the bathroom down the hall. You can take the—hey!"

Sakura cuts herself off when Reborn walks straight into her room like he owned the place and then proceeds to set up a hammock in the corner.

"You can't sleep here." Reborn ignores her.

She could feel her teeth grind in annoyance at the slight. "Don't you want your own room?"

"I can only properly do my job here."

"You're a home tutor, not a bodyguard. This is an invasion of privacy."

"Why? Do you have something to hide?" Reborn looks at her innocently. She does not buy it for even a second.

"If the mafia catches wind of you, they'll be assassins."

"I'm a 13-year-old girl. It's not appropriate." The look Reborn—a child—sends her makes her flush to her ears. It does its job of shutting her up and making her feel foolish.

"Whatever! Do what you want! But don't complain when I wake up early and don't leave food lying around!"

Reborn just raises an eyebrow, unimpressed.

Sakura huffs, turning on her heel back downstairs, infuriated. He's a frustrating one and she needs to cool off. Maybe Nana needs help around the house, anything for Sakura not to pummel her home tutor before he has a chance to teach her anything.

..

* * *

..

"A mafia boss...

"A leader who rules a criminal organization. Able to move a number of trusted members with one hand. Willing to risk his life for the family.

"Surrounded by the respect and admiration of all. Seen as a hero by the children of the slums—What is this even?" Sakura shuts the book to peer at the title again, hoping miraculously that it would be different this time.

"The Mafia Boss: Our Leader, Our Family," Reborn replies. Sakura flips through the picture book incredulously.

"You got me a children's propaganda book. I'm _thirteen_."

"We need to start from the basics."

Sakura groans.

This was not what she had in mind when he said they were going to start right after dinner. Though honestly, she should have expected this. Konoha citizens were indoctrinated with the love of their village and yes ideally, they did start very young (preferably as soon as they were born). The problem lay in the fact that she's not a _child_ anymore. She'd rather reread her Gray's Anatomy.

A click of a gun and it's more an instinct to live that lets her dodge a fatal shot.

He aimed for her heart but got her shoulder, even so, it stings like _hell_. She half expects blood to drip down.

"What the hell?!" Her eyes don't leave her home tutor— _they can't_ —not even to check her wound. Surprisingly, she doesn't feel the soak of blood, and at once she knew that he didn't shoot her with a real bullet—probably a wooden bullet?

No, a rubber bullet, like those toy shuriken she used to handle before the real thing.

"A mafia boss shouldn't complain." He hasn't moved from where he sips his coffee, which was the most deceitful thing ever.

"That doesn't mean you have to shoot me!" Sakura licks her lips and finds her throat dry. She works in getting her heart rate back to normal.

"If I don't keep shooting, I'll get rusty. Thanks to this job, I can shoot a lot now." Sakura thinks he shouldn't look so ridiculously happy at that.

She warily settles back to read her propaganda material, always keeping Reborn in her line of sight. She should have known he was trigger happy from his collection of guns.

Her shoulder still stings something fierce and she's sure it will bruise but she refuses to show it in any way inconvenienced her. The quicker she gets through this, the quicker she can actually do things of importance like studying for medical school.

..

* * *

..

Sakura side-eyes the hitman.

She's not outright running but nor is she leisurely strolling like the other days. She does not know how he does it but even with her almost jog, Reborn is keeping up just fine.. and he's only walking— _with his much shorter legs_.

"Are you following me to school now?"

"I can evaluate you better this way." Reborn's tone is carefree but she knows he is anything but.

"Yeah, that's fine..." Sakura takes in stride her new teacher's eccentricities, anything was better than reading porn in public at least, "What about the traps from this morning? Was that necessary? You booby-trapped my room while I was sleeping!" she snaps.

It rubs her the wrong way that she did not wake up even once during the whole process. She's supposed to be a war veteran. She should at least stir in her sleep when some unknown danger _sets dangerous traps around her_.

"That's got to be a betrayal of trust. My room is my safe space. I'll set up traps myself if you're worried about assassins or whatever." Dodging for her life first thing in the morning is also not her idea of a good time. "Besides that, I'm late because of you. Also—that was my favourite pyjamas! It now belongs in the trash!!" Okay, she knows she's grasping at straws on the last one but she's only known Reborn for less than a day and he was already getting on every nerve of hers.

She wonders if he intentionally does everything he could to annoy her.

She knows Kakashi-sensei did, mostly for his own amusement.

Sakura instantly feels bad for thinking badly of her old sensei. She's sure he tried his best, considering he was a very emotionally stunted man who got stuck with the 2 biggest problem children of her generation.

"Stop complaining. A mafia boss should be prepared to face a dangerous situation as soon as she wakes up. There are no safe spaces." Sakura refocuses her attention to the tiny hitman walking beside her. She hates that he's right. It does not make her feel any better. "Anyway, you're still early for school."

"I have things to do before class! Now, I will definitely have to stay after school! You're lucky kaa-san is so nice when I explained how this was an elaborate training scheme. But if she gets hurt because of you.."

"How arrogant of you to think you could threaten me."

"Well, she's all I have... and what was it? A mafia boss is willing to risk their life for their family?"

"Tch. I'll train that smart mouth out of you."

"Unlikely." Sakura does not turn her nose up at Reborn because she's known him less than 24 hours and already she can tell he won't take that from her well.

His aura commands respect like her Tsunade-shishou.

Particularly, he does not handle being ignored—ever.

He did not take revenge on her directly for their room mishap but during dinner, he went out of his way to butter her mother up and gain Nana's favour while simultaneously picking on all Sakura's faults.

Considering how routinely the teachers praise her on her high grades and great athletic capabilities, you think he would struggle at least a little to keep the conversation going. But no, conversation flowed smoothly throughout as Reborn carried it like a natural.

Nana was extremely charmed.

It annoyed the hell out of her.

She was also extremely jealous.

That only contributed to her overall annoyance.

"Morning, Sawada-san." Sakura jolts as she looks to the source of the disruption. She finds Kusakabe Tetsuya standing by the gate, his usual spot before the others take over, and it surprises her how quickly she reached the school.

"Morning, Kusakabe-san," she calls automatically to the older boy. Both of them were one of the handful of students who consistently arrive early, while others might have the excuse of extra club practise or early morning commute, both of them came because of their respective duties; His to the Disciplinary Committee and hers to the Student Council.

"Late morning today?" he asks, not really concerned. While they were well acquainted and worked well and efficiently together, they only ever talked about their duties. This small talk was really stretching it.

"You could say that..." Sakura shrugs helplessly. She was _so_ not going into what kind of morning she was having already.

"Who do you have with you? Unauthorized guests are not allowed."

She was _also_ not going to tell him about the crazy hitman on the border of Kyoya's sacred ground.

"During school hours. It's alright, you won't see him during class times."

"I see.." Kusakabe tries to blank his face but she could see the disapproval, "You know how he gets."

"Yeah," Kyoya is _quite_ the understanding guy. "It's okay. I can deal with it."

He nods, satisfied with his warning. With that, Sakura makes for the Student Council Room.

"If Kyoya finds you, I won't bail you out," Sakura said to the hitman at her side. She's pretty sure Reborn was the one who was stalking her now that she's thinking about it, but he lets her lead him to the Student Council Room like it's his first time here.

"How nice of you."

"Oh please, you don't need my help."

They arrive in record time and Sakura unlocks the door.

She likes having the only student key to the room.

It feels like it's hers.

They enter and she expertly tosses her bag to one of the couches she personally dragged from the reception. There's the standard line of windows that overlook the gate. Tables are neatly stacked against one wall along with unused chairs to make room for her couches. There are one desk and one chair, near the blackboard.

It's smaller than a classroom definitely but for just herself it's plenty. The Disciplinary Committee has a similar room on one of the higher floors, considering her room is only on the first floor.

It's noisier to be sure but she's not as removed from the students.

She's annoyed at their childlike ways sure but how could she represent the student body if she does not interact with them at all?

"Why is it only you in the Student Council?"

"In case you didn't know, Kyoya is a tyrant." She inspects the room, it's getting a little dusty but that's a job for another day, "Due to the nature of the Disciplinary Committee, we have to interact quite often on events or hall."

"Nobody likes you enough to face him, huh?" Reborn did not physically stab her but he might as well have.

Sakura makes to reply but then shuts her mouth.

She won't give him the satisfaction to dissect her answer.

Instead, she settles in to decide on the venue for the volleyball tournament and then the Sports festival later. She'll also have to settle on the budget sometime soon. She's grateful at least when Reborn pushes no more. She dives in with a ferociousness that comes with occupying her mind.

..

* * *

..

Reborn stays if only to double-check her paperwork like he did her homework last night. She's not worried, she apprenticed under the Godaime Hokage. She one-handedly keeps the Student Council running. She stands and stretches when she decides that is enough. She will have to stay after-school but it would not be as long as she thought.

"School will start soon. What would you be doing?" Sakura asks her tutor, in a better mood than earlier or at least calmer now that she has gained a bit of distance.

"I'll be around," Reborn replies but Sakura's attention is caught outside, particularly on a troublesome senpai.

"That spells trouble," she mutters, grateful for the view to the school gates. Reborn hops on the windowsill.

"Who is he?"

"Mochida Kensuke, one year above, Kendo captain. Their best player currently. He confessed to me not a month ago.." She sees him calling out for the newly arrived Sasagawa Kyoko and her stiff walk over. She frowns.

"It seems he has a new target this time: Someone not as disagreeable." Sakura does not run downstairs but it is only because she did not really have a terribly good reason to interrupt a teen's awkward attempt at flirting.

All her doubts at her self-righteous behaviour go flying out the window when she is close enough to see the discomfort on Kyoko's expression with the way his arm is around her shoulders. Her shoulders shrink into themselves and her hands clench tight on her bag strap.

She needs not look for any more signs.

"Kyoko-chan!" she calls in a happy tone, betraying none of her worries, "Hana-chan is looking for you."

"Oh! Okay!" Kyoko lights up with a relieved smile as she rushes out from under his arm.

"Wait, no!" Mochida makes to grab Kyoko's shoulder but Sakura 'accidentally' blocks his way and that half a second frame is enough for her to get away safely into the building.

"You! You did that on purpose!" He is quick to blame her, not that he could prove anything.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Mochida-san."

"You lost your chance, Sawada. You have no right to butt into my business." Sakura smiles but its a smile she shows to all the assholes that she must make nice with.

"Kyoya will be here any moment, Mochida-san. I advise you to head to your class before then." She turns to heed her own advice and can basically feel his irritation behind her. She relishes in it.

She only allows herself to smirk later during homeroom behind her teacher's back. The cut off muffled screams of Kyoya's victims are strangely ambient.

..

* * *

..

The bell for lunch rings and Sakura stands to leave only to pause when the girl from this morning—upcoming school idol Kyoko—bounces over.

"Sakura-chan! I would just like to say thank you for this morning! Hana-chan mentioned it was all you."

Sakura smiles politely, "Ah, it's no problem."

Kurokawa Hana brings up a chair to her desk and Kyoko follows with another.

Sakura sits back down.

She is friendly with everyone in her class of course but that does not mean she spends much time with any of them.

"Kyoko, you need to tell that monkey that he's straight-up being a creep." Hana unpacks her bento and Sakura listens as she unpacks her own. Kyoko practically wilts, shoulders heavy with the weight of unwanted attention.

"I agree with Hana-chan. Mochida-san won't listen until he has a firm no and even then he will push for weakness," Sakura adds as Hana nods in agreement.

Kyoko keeps quiet as she pushes around the food in her bento.

Sakura softens.

Kyoko reminds her of Hinata when she was just beginning to grow out her hair. She was beautiful then too and the boys were taking notice. "If you want, I could be there for support. He would keep his hands to himself when he sees me, don't worry."

Kyoko smiles relieved. "Would you really, Sakura-chan? Hana-chan is usually too busy after school. She has debate. They can be very intense."

"Yeah, its no problem."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! You're really cool, Sakura-chan."

"It's nothing really." They continue to talk and eat until lunch ends. It is a different pace than her usual rounds, but it was nice.

..

* * *

..

"I'm sorry, Mochida-senpai but I don't feel the same way as you. I am not looking to date at this point in time and I hope you understand that. I hope we can stay as friends. I am really sorry."

Sakura cooly gazes upon the scene. She leans against the wall and does not bother to pretend she is not listening in. She's close enough to intervene if she felt the need to and deliberately places herself within his line of sight.

She knows it is rude to not let Mochida-san be rejected in privacy but she does not particularly care.

"I see..."

"Yeah, so I-I just wanted to let you know. I am really sorry. I am going to head home now. I'll see you around school."

"Yeah, bye." Kyoko heads her way and Sakura walks her to the gate.

Mochida did not push which was more than Sakura expected really.

"Thank you again for staying."

"It is really fine. I stay back often to handle the Student Council matters anyway."

"Even then, knowing you were behind me gave me the strength to speak my mind. Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura-chan." Sakura smiles and waves her off before heading back inside. She still had other matters to attend too after all.

She wonders where Reborn wandered off to.

It is only later, with the banging of the Student Council doors, that breaks her out of her concentration. She's moved onto her homework after wrapping up her duties and is making excellent time. She stands and stretches, back cracking before making to open the door as the knocking has gotten insistent. When she opens it, she cannot say that the person who stood before her was unexpected but she was still momentarily surprised at the shouting in her face.

"You! It was all your fault!!"

"What is your problem, Mochida-san?" She does not roll her eyes, but her expression conveys just how beneath her she found this very interaction.

"You are my problem!!" She failed to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Could anyone really blame her?

"She doesn't like you. There was nothing I did that affected that."

"Kyoko was perfectly fine this morning! Before you stuck your nose where it did not belong!" Mochida was puffing and his face got redder.

She wonders if he stewed in his anger the whole time during club practice.

"Just admit it, you were jealous." Sakura scoffed before she could stop herself.

"No, I see now.." Behind his eyes, the wrong thing clicks into place, "You saw me with Kyoko and was jealous. You didn't like the thought of me with another girl! So you had to drive her away! Well, too bad for you, Sawada. You lost your chance. And besides.." He leans in.

She does not lean back because even when she wanted to, it would seem like a weakness to both her and the teenage boy in front of her.

"Kyoko is much cuter than you." His hand moves and she did not know if he meant to grab her and shake her or to push her against a wall to, god forbid, kiss her but her hand was faster.

Before he knew it, she knocks him out via pressure point and he collapses to the floor.

She hopes he has bruises.

She then proceeds to drag him and his things to the Disciplinary office.

She knocked once then made to enter. Unlike the Student Council Room, the Disciplinary Office was never locked. "Kusakabe-san. A little gift." Sakura proceeded to dump her charge and his things.

She saw some of Kyoya's underlings staring, she raises an eyebrow and gives them her most unimpressed look, they turn away quickly.

Facing Kusakabe again, she explains, "There was a situation and he blamed me unjustly. I'm sure Kyoya can find some reason to 'bite him to death'."

Kusakabe merely nods in acceptance. "Heading home?"

"I'm all done for today. I'll see you tomorrow." Sakura proceeds to take her leave, grabbing her bag from her room to go.

The minute she walks out of the school gates, Reborn pops up on the wall beside her. She very deliberately does not give him the reaction he wants. "That was neatly handled."

"Where have you been? Did you watch the entire thing?"

"Yep!" Reborn's high-pitched voice confirms with no shame.

"Thanks for interfering."

"Why did you hand him over? Why didn't you just beat him up? You are faster than him."

"Disciplinary actions—anything violent actually—are Kyoya's area. Everyone, even the adults, fears him so I am not worried. Mochida will get his just desserts. Besides, Kyoya needs the action or he'll get restless.. which is even worse for everybody," Sakura explains.

"I see you guys have an understanding," Reborn says.

"Yeah.. It works because we don't get in each other's way."

Reborn's face doesn't change but it doesn't say stop talking so she continues before she could help it, "Well, I say that but it's really Kyoya doing whatever the hell he wants via force and me having to cater around his quite ridiculous needs sometimes.

"Do you know that only he is allowed to bring weapons to school? What a hypocrite! It's not just that, he takes naps on the roof, nobody is allowed on the roof! They haven't fixed the railing yet, its a safety hazard! I don't think he even goes to his classes. He _hates_ crowds. It's just—It's just not fair.

"He doesn't even want the nitty-gritty hard part of leading you know—the talking to people, maintaining relations, choosing what is best not because he wants it but because it is right for the people. Oh—he makes decisions just fine but even a child can boss people around. Kyoya just wants any excuse for a fight and to 'keep the peace'. But he just gets away with it cause he's Hibari. Kyoya... Boys."

She lets out a breath and its almost like it rattles her lungs on the way out, "You know? They think the world is owed to them and that they should have it on a silver platter." There is heat in her cheeks and her eyes are watery from the sheer amount of emotion she feels.

She feels self-conscious after her not entirely unprompted rant.

She could not help it, it just sprang up. Only her mother ever really asked. Everyone else just accepted that they lived under the tyrant Kyoya.

Everyone else was just sheep.

"The world is not fair, Sakura. It will never be fair. What are you going to do about it?" It's uncanny Reborn's ability to get to the heart of the matter.

Once more, she feels exposed under his unblinking eyes.

"What do you mean? What can I do? I will always need to work twice as hard to get even a fraction as much credit."

It's a bitter truth she's had to swallow time and time again, and it would never change.

"I see.. It's time for you to die."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. The reason Sakura protests Reborn being in her room is not because she thinks its inappropriate. He's like 5 max and she is 13 like what could he possibly do. It's because she does in fact have secrets to hide. But she concedes so quickly because she does not want to give a bad impression so early on and that she did in fact understand that assassins would be coming after her and she's nowhere near skilled enough to take care of adversaries like that.
> 
> 2\. The Disciplinary Office is never locked because it's only someone with a death wish who would dare to trespass or vandalise or whatever. Everyone who has instincts to live know not to even go near. I know Reborn once dragged Tsuna, Hayato and Takeshi there to be beaten up but really Tsuna probably didn't notice because Reborn drags him everywhere anyways. Meanwhile, Takeshi and Hayato don't have self-preservation skills, like at all. 
> 
> 3\. Sakura's emotional rant is influenced by my own rants about passionate topics you can't let go off like how Kishimoto did Sakura dirty on her marriage. God, you think you should be over it because it doesn't affect you but even years later, nope still a gaping wound. Just so you guys know I started halfway through my rant then deleted it because I almost didn't notice it wasn't a short topic to be summarised in a concise sentence. 
> 
> 4\. That Reborn walking, while Sakura is speedwalking, is inspired by the manga where Tsuna was jogging (cause he was late for school again) while Reborn was casually walking on the wall beside him calm as you please. They conversed and Tsuna didn't even notice anything wrong He's been too conditioned to stranger things. The physics does not work THATS WHAT'S WRONG. It was the chapter where the Shimon guys got introduced and that bit is just hilarious to me. Cause it's such a Reborn thing to do. He's not going to let walking seem like it takes effort please he's the World's Greatest Hitman.
> 
> 5\. I completely forgot about the propaganda bit until I reread the manga and I went like ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, it makes sense that Reborn tried to brainwash Tsuna into the romance of mafia life. If you notice there're parts where they do romanticise the mafia life. You know what you have to roll with it. That's why we a crack fandom.
> 
> 6\. Jokes on Sakura because that masters is real and Reborn had a blast doing it.
> 
> 7\. In case anyone didn't know, we are in the Daily Life arc and at times it can seem episodic as KHR has a very colourful cast that is all introduced at once.
> 
> 8\. Still looking for betas btw. Comment which parts you liked.


	3. Dame-Sakura

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Find me in FanfictionNet under the same name, I have a little info on my profile.  
> 2\. What? You guys had expectations? Haha

"I swear if you brought me to the park just to kill me.."

Well, its better than getting civilians caught up in the crossfire at least. She shifts into a better fighting stance, prepared to give him one hell of a fight.

"And if I did?" Reborn challenges. He doesn't even pretend she is any danger to him.

Unfortunately, she knows this is not an underestimation.

"Well.. I'm not dying without a fight." She does not have any weapons on her but she honestly did not think he would attempt to kill her already.

That was her mistake.

"I will. But first, I will introduce you to the concept of Dying Will."

Sakura narrows her eyes, "Dying will?" Sounds fake.

"The mafia's best-kept secret is the existence of Dying Will Flames. Dying will flames manifest when your will is strong enough." Reborn cups his hands and as if by magic, he manifests a yellow flame.

And just like that, Sakura drops to her knees.

She crawls closer to be face to face with the child, she wants to see it for herself this new power. Her hands hover, scared to touch, scared to find it disappear between her fingers. She swears this is the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. The yellow flame burns with an intensity greater than that of a real flame, acting as a beacon into a new life.

"This is a high-density form of energy refined from one's own life-force." To his credit, Reborn does not back-away. She would not blame him if he did, she knows she's acting crazy.

Hell, she _feels_ crazy.

He continues teaching unperturbed by her inability to say anything, "You will need a resolve strong enough to pull you back from the brink of death. You will only have one shot at this."

The flame disappears and instantly she misses it like an ache in her heart.

A resolve that she would defy death for?

Her eyes flutter shut. She needs to focus. She needs clarity.

It's like the first time she found her chakra. The first door into the unexplored wilderness. Back in the Academy, years and years ago, when they were first shown access to their chakra, the clan children got it instantly, every single one of them was able to locate the chakra streams within their own bodies like it was breathing.

But all the civilian-background children struggled; _she_ struggled.

She had no reference and she had minimal guidance. But when she found it— _Oh, when she found it_..

It was breath-taking, like a gentle river flowing through her body.

After, she searched for years and years for that same gentle river, knowing deep down that it was gone forever but hoping.. Never being able to let go of hoping..

She pushes those thoughts aside. They will not help her now. What was her resolve? What did she want this time? What did she want more than anything in the world? It comes to her, it's what she's wanted since the Forest of Death, to be on the same level as _them_ —to never be left behind again.

For the first time, there's fire roaring through her veins in her blood.

She feels the cold, blunt edge of a gun on her forehead. Her eyes snap open and her last sight is of her tutor.

His fedora shades his eyes and his hand is steady as he says, "Hold on to that resolve."

Smirking, Reborn pulls the trigger.

_Her world burns orange._

..

* * *

..

Sakura lies on the grass sunbathing. They were in a rarely used—almost obscure even—area of the park. The sun is setting and it sets the world on fire. She loves fire, it's her new favourite thing ever. Her muscles (rather, every inch of her body) scream their protest but she's already done cooldown so she ignores it as best she could. She doesn't hear anything else but the birds; not distant children, nor the sound of cars.

After years and years, her mind is clear. The peace she feels is all-encompassing.

She traces the presence of dying will flames, in her heart, then her lungs, then the epidermis of her skin. Unlike chakra, there are no proper pathways in her body for them to flow through, instead they lurk hidden inside cells—in every cell. It calms her in a way she never feels with anything else.

She can't believe she's lived this long without knowing. It is not completely the same to her old chakra—No, it is too firey and eager to jump onto her fingers if she would allow them. But she loves it even more than she did her chakra, mostly because of its absence before this.

Sakura curls her fingers around the grass but makes no move to pluck any. It's cool contrast to the heat within her body is welcome. She's ruined 3 pairs of clothes in days and she cannot find it in herself to care at all. Reborn can ruin all her clothes. Who _cares_? She did find it curious that the dying will state destroyed her clothes and the unsatisfactory restriction excuse she got was frankly ridiculous but she rolls with it. (Then why does underwear stay on? She means thank god but _why?)_ She came prepared with extra clothes this time. She did not want to try sneaking into her house in only her underwear again. It was a novelty challenge but not a habit she would want a repeat of.

In the past 24 hours of observations, she's found 2 primary points where dying will flames congregate naturally. One was obviously the heart and the other was the middle of her forehead. At these points, she found that flame flow is fastest and most efficient.

It brings a whole new meaning to the term making decisions with your head or your heart.

She doesn't need to think about it before she decides where to place her Byakugou seal. She only needs to concentrate briefly before feeling it click into place like the last piece of a puzzle slot. With that, another thing settles within her.

Of course, it won't be easy, it's only the first step in many, as storing her life force requires near-perfect control, but she would have it again.

She refuses to die until she has that seal again.

She switches her gaze from fluffy clouds to the sitting figure of her home tutor. She studies him without shame as he cleans his guns meticulously and wonders how many he had, also where did he store them? It is not like her room was suddenly cluttered with stuff he brought with him. His movements are slow but precise. Never a wasted movement. She watches, cataloguing, learning through observation. Obviously, he cared very much for his weapons, which is a habit Sakura could gladly get behind.

Reborn is a sadist. There is no doubt about it. He relishes in perfection and his standards are higher than her own. He wakes her up at ungodly hours of the morning in ways that cause the most pain for his own amusement. He resets the traps within her room both nights he was here to keep her on her toes. He trains her stamina in ways Tsunade-shishou would laugh at, and pushes her to the brink in ways that would inspire Gai-sensei to cry tears of youth. He's not satisfied until her homework is 100% correct and punishes brutally for careless mistakes. He guides her Student Council work better than the supposed Teacher Advisor. He doesn't like weaknesses and he's kind of a little shit. He constantly wears that smile that promises more torture on her end.

Ever since he's arrived, it's like she's almost in a constant state of annoyance.

Despite all that, she likes him very much.

Oh yeah, it's definitely bias off her flame high but when she goes back to being annoyed, she would still like him grudgingly.

Grudgingly.

"You mentioned you're the World's Greatest Hitman?" Sakura says. He doesn't show a reaction but she knows he's listening more than she is, maybe even for threats, "According to whose ranking?"

"In everyone's ranking." She stays quiet, "Everyone underground knows it." He's not defensive about it. His tone is calm and the way he says it, it's just a fact of life.

She hums and the smile that spreads on her face is the first genuine one in his presence. Her home tutor is actually quite cool. "Then, since you're my sensei, that means I can't simply be mediocre, can I?"

His eyes are sharp on her when he says, "You'll be the best Vongola boss, better than Primo even."

"But I want more than that." Her brown eyes stare down his black ones, "I want to be the strongest.. The World's Strongest Medic." His eyes close off suddenly, more than usual, and her brow furrows. What did she say wrong? "...I've always planned to be a doctor eventually. I don't think even being a mafia boss would stop me."

"Big words, Dame-Sakura." No-good? Sakura is incredulous. _Why?_ A gun clicks and all his weapons vanish from his surroundings packed up. "Especially for someone who broke down crying yesterday." Sakura flushes. "You better put your actions where your words are." A bullet nicks her ear and her heart races in fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Disclaimer: If you think someone might kill or harm you, please don't follow them to the park or anywhere without witnesses. This story is not grounded in reality. I do not condone this behaviour.
> 
> 2\. You think maybe it's an exaggeration but Sakura would give both her legs and an eye to be able to use chakra again.
> 
> 3\. Reborn doesn't need to shoot point-blank but he was also testing her resolve. He did not see her afraid.
> 
> 4\. You also might be thinking: 'But that's not a regret! Isn't it?' Well dear readers, while it's not as clear cut as Tsuna's 'I regret I didn't confess while I had the chance'. It is still a regret of Sakura's. But more importantly, it's Sakura's resolve. I remember in one of the manga arcs, Tsuna thinking smt like For Hibari, the angrier he is the stronger his resolve. And that's pretty apt for our dear 'I'll bite you to death' Hibari.
> 
> 5\. Reborn took a long time before explaining to Tsuna the seven flames of the sky (probs Varia arc with rain flame Basil). The exact speech from the manga is still MIA (and if you find it tell me) but a lot of this story is about what the characters would do in this environment so it's not necessary. Tsuna was not a theory person. He wouldn't care so much about the technicality of everything. He also might not understand poor thing. He also didn't want to be mafia-at all. So early on, yeah Reborn wouldn't be spilling mafia secrets to this new student who could try to run to the police (he would fail but its the principle that counts). The omerta is real and is run by the Vindice after all. Reborn also liked to bring chaos into Tsuna's life for shit and giggles which is really fair enough, so his half-assed explanation of the barebones of everything fits cause also Tsuna was also straddling the line of disbelief the whole time.
> 
> 6\. So far, this story shows Reborn taking a different approach to Sakura's teaching. He does not throw her into mess first, explain nothing afterward as he did with Tsuna. This is because Sakura is smart and she has goals and he is implicitly aware that this is a very different type of student than his previous one. She already wants in from the very first conversation and most importantly, this is the way she learns best: a little theory and then test. It's not as fun as shrieking Dino was but it also isn't as annoying. It's an adjustment period for everyone really.
> 
> 7\. If it jumps all over the place, it's because I wrote the dialogue first and then the reflections. Sometimes I read reflections in stories that lead nowhere and really it's world-building I get it, but I feel that they should lead somewhere. And it could be really good world-building but it still kinda loses me and I have to go back a little to understand. I mean I'm trying myself but to be honest I haven't written a proper story in years and obv nothing good (if you're one of those few that actually read those I am so sorry I don't have any plans to continue, the plot is a mess and everyone is ooc).
> 
> 8\. I wrote obsidian eyes until I searched up obsidian then changed it to onyx eyes cause I liked the meaning better then thought it was stupid who cares and went with good ol' black. But Reborn is more black onyx than black obsidian probs.
> 
> 9\. Who do you guys want as the guardians? It is still very not decided. So put who and why and maybe how they would interact and if you convince me I'll be inspired to your side. Sorry if this chapter doesn't meet your expectations, I'm still so proud of the Dame-Sakura scene dunno why. God, this AN is too long. But this is the only way I can talk to you guys.


	4. Her New Normal

_Sakura runs and runs and **runs**._

_She's constantly searching; searching for two people—for two important people._

_She knows this forest instantly. It's where she knew true despair. Fear rushes through her body, sweat is running down her forehead, her cheongsam—such a bright target, so impractical what was she thinking—sticking to her body like a second skin. It chokes her, the clothes on her body, the forehead protector she doesn't deserve, the fear clogging her throat._

_She can't stop, not for anything. She needs to find them. She needs to know—But her movements grind to a stop at the appearance of a figure shrouded in black._

_She recognises him._

_"Little girl, did you really think you could save him? Your precious Sasuke-kun? Do you think he even wants to be **saved**?" She'll never forget that thin body, that sickly complexion, that slimy tongue of the man who ruined everything. She shakes and internally she screams not to show fear, that she was better than this. The figure morphs into another unmistakable figure._

_One she thought she once knew._

_"Stupid Sakura... When are you going to learn? You're still that weak, useless kunoichi I left behind. You haven't changed. You can't change." She doesn't see him move but she does feel him rip out her heart with his hand._

_"Sasu-" She feels the blood running down her chin and sees the cold red eyes._

Sakura startles awake, taking gasping breaths. She feels the new fire within her surge, trapped within her body and without thought, she redirects all of it into her seal.

That was a mistake, the nausea hits her like a wall.

Her stomach protests and before she knows it she's running down the hall and puking into the toilet bowl, without knowing how she got from point A to B. It was like she spent hours regurgitating her stomach until even blood comes up. When she is done, all her limbs feel heavy and her eyes hazy. She can feel the mark of tears running down her face though she did not know when she started nor when she stopped. Flushing the toilet, washing her face and brushing her teeth are all done on autopilot.

She feels disconnected but she's been taking care of herself for a long time.

Her mind floats.

Her body just does.

She knows Reborn appears some time though she does not know exactly what he does. The second her head brushes her pillow, she passes out.

It is her stomach demanding food more than the morning sunlight that eventually wakes her up. Blinking at the numbers on her alarm, she rapidly sits up.

"Crap! I'm late for school!" She grabs her clothes, ignores everything about her body and sprints to the bathroom getting ready in record time. "Kaa-san, why didn't you wake me up?!"

"Reborn-kun mentioned you were sick." Sakura's already grabbing her bag, heading down the stairs. "Sa-chan! What about breakfast?"

"There's no time!" she says, even as she grabs a toast her mom carefully placed under the cover on the table for her. She runs like the devil is on her heels and curses because she knows Kyoya would have noticed her abnormal absence. And like a particularly annoying stalker, he would lurk waiting.

Unfortunately for him, Sakura knows the best ways to deal with him.

"Morning to you too, Kyoya!" She dodges him before he knows what his move shall be. Really, you think he would learn by now.

"You're late, Herbivore," Kyoya says, his Disciplinary Committee jacket fluttering on his shoulders. She wonders how they stay on; he doesn't even wear them properly.

Sakura groans, even as she dodges the prefect's next move. "Well, you're making me later. Some of us actually attend class," Sakura snipes back. Ducking under a tonfa, placing her strategically between Hibari Kyoya and Namimori Middle school.

"Those are for the herds." Sakura rolls her eyes but managed to slip past him when another latecomer takes up his attention. His tenacious behaviour would be commendable if it was not so annoying.

"Morning, Kaichou! Late today?"

"Haha yeah!" She feels the embarrassment crawl up her shoulders as everyone (students and teachers) she passes comment on her late start in the day. Instead of showing her discomfort, Sakura smiles good-naturedly to everyone wishing her as she makes her way to her classroom.

She slides open the door to her class. "Sawada-san! It is not proper for the Student Council President to be late to school."

"Sorry, sensei. It won't happen again." Sakura gives her best reassuring smile and makes to sit down.

It is only once she's no longer on her feet that she has to fight the haze of sleep that she suddenly wants to do.

"Everything alright, Sakura-chan?" Kyoko asks from two desks over.

"Yeah, just woke up late. It's no big deal really," Sakura returns, waving it off.

"No talking! Coming in late does not permit you to disrupt the class." Sakura grimaces but gives Kyoko a ' _what-can-you-do?_ ' shrug.

When the bell rings for lunch, Sakura makes her way smoothly out the door before Kyoko and Hana could make their way over to her. She has no energy to waste today and no lunch anyways. Spending lunch talking and pointedly not eating would not be her cup of sake. She debates between the roof and the Student Council Room but ultimately just heading to the latter as it has fewer chances to be interrupted. Sure, she would like a view and the cool breeze but she does not even want the _chance_ to bump into Kyoya.

She enters to find a familiar figure immediately in her line of sight, sitting casually on the windowsill in a distinctively model pose. She wonders if he practices sitting like that or if that comes naturally. Who really knows with prodigies?

"Oh, hey Reborn, there you are."

"Why didn't you skip school today? You were sick last night, weren't you?" Sakura flops on the 2 seater couch and thanks anyone listening that she had the forethought to repossess it after they replaced the couches in the reception when school first started. She slips off her indoor slippers and lies down. It's a bit awkward and she's not entirely sure she would not wake without a creak in her neck or shoulder or whatever but the sheer fatigue she feels makes it seem perfectly acceptable.

"Oh, but I promised the volleyball team I would sub in as a player later. Anyways, I'm not that sick. It's not a big deal." Now that she has time to think about it though and confirmation it was not a hazy dream, she knows that puking blood is not normal and could be very serious. Amazingly, she is not in some sort of pain today. Sure her body feels heavier and she is more tired than usual but it could be worse. Her eyes close and she fights it no longer. "It's fine. I'm just sleepy. Could you wake me before—" Sakura yawns, "lunch ends? I think I'll just take a nap..."

She idly wonders why that delinquent boy has been spying on her. It itches across her skin. Did Mochida bribe him? Would he go that far? She pushes those thoughts aside to slip into a much-needed recharge nap.

..

* * *

..

It's only later after the competition that she heads home for a much-needed shower and maybe a little food if she can manage it before she accidentally falls asleep. She takes her time walking home, not able to go faster. The tournament took all her reserves that she got from surviving on minimum today.

She checks the flames within her to find them sluggish. She tries pulling them and ends up folding in half to cough her lungs out for her trouble.

Reborn hands her a handkerchief and almost immediately she finds blood splattering it.

She waits it out, focusing on breathing. Her eyes are closed and lined with tears. Her brow is littered with sweat. Her body flashes hot and then becomes unbearably cold, sticking to her clothes. She's glad she didn't change out of her sports clothes at least.

Her mind races with possibilities.

"Do you have any previous or known illnesses?" Reborn asks. His voice is calm, though she knows he must be calculating something by now.

She can't reply immediately as Sakura is sure she'll start coughing if she does. Reborn uncharacteristically is a perfect gentleman while he waits for her to get her bearings together. He's not usually this patient. She stands slowly and they head back without another word, her footsteps dragging a little more.

"No," she replies and it's not a lie. She swallows to wet her parched throat and for her trouble, she tastes the iron in her blood.

Her dying will flames have a limit, that's obvious to her. She steps over that and there are consequences. Not dissimilar to chakra exhaustion then. But instead of collapsing in exhaustion, she spews blood. Why? What makes chakra different to her flames? What collapses in her body without the flames? Which system collapses first? Where is the blood coming from?

She knows both are essential to live. Both are inactive in civilians. Both can be weaponised and used.

She just doesn't have enough information.

What occurs after the coughing blood? Do her lungs shut down? Does she choke on blood?

In chakra exhaustion, you collapse into much-needed rest. Kakashi-sensei used to do it almost routinely. Sakura herself used to fall asleep straight after her surgeries. In worst cases, you fall into a coma as shishou did after Pein attacked. If you never recover— _if you overextend yourself_ —you die. There are no 2 ways about it. It's deadly, even genin know it—knows not to practice without supervision. As they are the least experienced and the ones with less chakra, in general, they fall into the ones who visit the hospital the most for cases of mild chakra exhaustion.

Her lunch nap helped.

Food also probably helps or not Reborn would not have given her the bento from Nana after her nap.. Or maybe he still would? He's still very unpredictable.

Sakura needs to quickly evaluate her system and her capabilities.

It's fine.

Nothing new to her. She used to do the same when she saved up the first time. It's not any different, back then she just had to take more naps to restore her chakra. Learn how to get by on minimum all the time.

She'll have to keep a tighter reign on her dying will flame, limiting the amount and working on perfecting her control.

Frankly, Sakura does not like this— _at all._

Last time took almost 3 years to complete—and she had to cut a lot of corners to get it done just in time for the last leg of the war—this time will be longer for sure, especially if she wants to get it done properly.

It's frustrating.

..

* * *

..

_Green hands. A still body. Hot tears down her cheeks. And a heavy hand shaking her shoulder._

When she wakes once again from a nightmare, this time featuring the face of the first patient she ever lost, she barely prevents herself from flooding her Byakugou seal again. Her clothes are sticking to her body and her mind races. The flecks of dying will churn out of her cells, straining her body beyond healthy.

She sits upright, breathing in. Her fingers shake and she clenches them. Breathing out, she can feel every beat of her heart in her chest. She focuses on her dying will flames, starting from the tip of her toes upwards to her heart and then to the tip of her fingers then onwards to her hair.

The fire within her body is soothing in a way her chakra never was.

As she calms so does her heartbeat and the rate in which she produces dying will flames. She draws most of them into her seal and the rest she lets evenly disperse within her.

She's tired. She's still so tired but it could be worse. She's not hacking a lung out this time which is what matters.

When she opens her eyes, unconcealed surprise jolts through her at the sight of Reborn sitting cross-legged before her, mirroring her.

"Reborn... How long have you been there?"

"23 minutes, 58 seconds."

"Oh.... I'm sorry for waking you. It was just a bad dream. You can go back to sleep now." He does return to his hammock and is sleeping faster than she can get a comfortable position in bed.

Burying her face half into her pillow, she wonders why he bothered to sit with her. She wonders why she didn't just ask him.

..

* * *

..

"Hey, Reborn-sensei, why are my flames orange while yours are yellow? Are yours stronger? Would mine get yellow if I practised more?"

"No. Flame strength is dependent on the purity of the flame which is influenced by your resolve. Things like self-doubts, self-deception and weak resolve will cloud the purity of the flame, thus making it weaker.

"You have Sky flames which are primarily characterised by its orange colour while I have Sun flames which are primarily characterised by its yellow colour. There are 7 types of Dying Will Flames: Sky, Sun, Rain, Storm, Lightning, Mist, and Cloud.

"Eventually, you will have to find a guardian of each corresponding flame type to act as your strongest subordinates. Guardians must be able to act independently on your behalf if you are not able to. They must also be fiercely loyal as they may need to place you first even before any spouses or children."

"Oh, okay." Sakura's mind whirls, processing and integrating this new information. "Since they are different types of flames... Does that mean they have different characteristics?"

Reborn smirks, approval only a small glint in his eyes. Even still, Sakura beams back. "Sky flames' characteristic is harmony. Sun flames are activation. Rain, Storm, Lightning, Mist and Cloud are tranquillity, disintegration, hardening, construction and propagation respectively.

"Sky flames are the rarest type of flames as it represents a state without contradiction nor flaws in which the balance of the whole is maintained. It is due to this nature that sky flames are still considered greatly a mystery. It is also this nature that leads to most mafia bosses having sky flames. A mafia boss must be able to keep the balance within the family." Reborn continues, unperturbed by Sakura's furious note-taking, "Meanwhile, the activation characteristic of sun flames have the power to induce and improve the efficiency of any type of activity. It can increase the rate of blood flow and cell regeneration, and stimulate muscles and joints. This trait makes sun flames optimal for support roles and difficult to use in direct combat. Over usage of the activation characteristic can lead to cellular death."

He's suddenly dressed in an academic cloak and hat with a green pointing stick the next time she looks up from her notes. Sakura doesn't have time to wonder between wardrobe changes, obviously he expects her to keep up for he motions to the blue flame on the chart that also suddenly appeared, "On the other hand, rain flames tranquil nature allows it to weaken anything it touches. Decreasing the intensity and speed of an opponent's attack is second nature in a rain flame user." Note-taking is second nature to Sakura but it's only when she computes what she has taken down that her brain just stops.

"Wait—No, wait—Okay so what you are saying is... Sun flames.. are the healing flames? You can't heal.. with sky flames..?"

"It's never been done," Reborn says, impossibly blank.

Horror steals her heart, wrapping it in a vice.

"And I don't have sun flames..?" Her brows furrow and she could feel an ache on her brow. Her heart is beating double its normal speed, pumping blood, escalating dying will flame production. It thinks she's dying.

She's not sure she isn't.

"No," he says.

The world crashes around her ears, roaring waves and burning fire.

What was the point then? In her Byakugou seal? The ultimate technique of control.

 _Useless_.

She'll never again fortify thousands on her will alone. She'll never again bring back the dying under her palms.

No.

_No._

"What was that, Dame-Sakura?"

" _No_... Just because everyone else can't do it... Doesn't mean _I_ can't—Doesn't mean I _won't_." Her eyes are burning but there are no tears this time. She is hyperaware of the traces of dying will flames in her body, begging to jump out and prove her point. Instead, she funnels it into her seal and carefully leaves just enough for basic functions.

"You didn't let me finish, Dame-Sakura. Mist flames' characteristic of construction is ideal to quickly replace an organ. Cloud flames' propagation allows a user to avoid blood loss. Just because you were born with a set flame doesn't mean it limits you. Dying will flames, at its core, are about intention. Your limitation is your creativity."

The pointing stick snaps down to her notes.

She quickly retracts her hand to not be hit.

"Right, okay." Sakura settles again, picking up her pencil she's grateful didn't snap in two, "I'm sorry. Would you please continue?" Reborn eyes her but he does so without fuss. Sakura copies his lesson word by word.

But Harmony isn't enough for Sakura. What can she really do? Petrify someone maybe? Shatter bones? Detect poisons? No, once there was no medical chakra, someone had to be the first to emulate the First Hokage's self-healing ability on others.

If she must, she'll be the first in her field.

**_She'll pioneer a new medical age on her back._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Warning: Reborn plagiarised from Reborn! wiki. If that offends you, I am sorry because Reborn is not sorry to offend anybody.
> 
> 2\. Kaichou = President. Took it from Kaichou wa maid-sama. Byakugou = Strength of a Hundred
> 
> 3\. Sakura didn't actually say no out loud. Reborn just mindreads like that.
> 
> 4\. Prepare for the long haul cause Daily arc is a really long arc. I'm not skipping no—Cause it's hilarious. Also this is the character development arc. Also if we have 20 chapters, that's most of the year & it'll only be 2 months in this fic (and we would still be in Daily arc & now you've been warned).
> 
> 5\. It occurred to me that Sakura's flames are probably too happy to play outside the body, considering Tsuna's flames don't manifest unless he eats those pills or is shot by the bullet. There's a perfectly logical explanation for this. Sakura, due to her past experience as a medic-nin, is used to manifesting her medical chakra which is a refined version of raw chakra outside her body, especially in her hands. She does this with no aid from another medium, & even through surfaces like clothes. SO it just comes down to experience.
> 
> 6\. I really do enjoy each comment even if its a 'good job', 'love it', 'thanks', a simple comment or you ranting about the state of Sakura's past, present or possible future. It's all wonderful and helpful to read. I reread them at least 5 times the first day alone.
> 
> 7\. So ah nobody panic but for the first time the next chapter is incomplete. It's mostly finalised, don't worry nobody panic. (I'm panicking) It's fine. The schedule will go as planned.
> 
> 8\. Tell me to write this story every time you reread it (if you do) cause I haven't been and sooner or later you guys are going to run out of chapters. Then, I'll be MIA and you'll be sad and I'll be sad and it spirals.
> 
> 9\. I'm not sure I have to explain the basic premise of khr to you guys? I'm assuming a few of you never read khr but I guess we'll play by ear. It's not like my Naruto knowledge is that great anyways.


	5. Gokudera Hayato

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the prev chap, I replied to one question in the comments because it was spoiler-free. Adore you guys but you lot ask all these rhetorical spoiler-full questions.

Sakura can't ignore it any longer. She _can't_. Turning to the merrily _whistling_ hitman walking beside her on the way to school, she warily says, "You look happy."

"I'm excited about school today," Reborn chirps, and she doesn't trust it. It's not that he cannot be happy, it's more she's learned to never trust his word on anything.

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Sakura narrows her gaze at Reborn and then proceeds to instead cloud watch, "I don't know, I think today will be troublesome."

"What makes you think that?"

"Just got a feeling." Or maybe it's just the lingering effects of her nightmare. She doesn't remember anything except corpses as far as she could see and blood on her hands. She internally shakes herself out it.

Another nightmare, another day.

Sakura is later proven right when the newly introduced transfer student proceeds to kick over her desk unprovoked. He's a delinquent with his improper use of school uniform, amultitude of necklaces, and the faint scent of cigarette smoke. He glares at her but all she does is pick the table back up and doesn't deign to give him any other reaction. He is either brave or stupid to pick a fight in front of the whole class.

"Scary... Are you okay, Sakura-chan? Do you know him?" Yamada, her classmate asks.

"No, I've never met him."

"Must be hard to be so popular.." another classmate, obviously eavesdropping mutters. Sakura doesn't reply. Sakura ignores the rest of the student chatter and the teacher as he tries to calm the students before going on with his lesson.

Her mind instead wanders to Gokudera Hayato and their brief introduction. Half-Japanese, half-Italian. Coming back to his home country after studying abroad to discover his traditional roots. It's a good cover. If only he had the foresight to not glare at her so obviously. She wonders if the rest of the mafia was as obvious as the two she's already met. Have they never heard of looking underneath the underneath?

She expertly ignores the part of her mind which compares his hairstyle to that of old Team 7 Sasuke, his silver hair that of Kakashi's, his eyes to her own old ones. Those thoughts would do her no good here.

Instead, she traces the sky flames on the surface of her palms. It's an effective meditative technique.

..

* * *

..

"So what is this about? Calling me out after school?" Sakura calls out, even as she scans the area. Not that she needs to, she knows this school like the back of her hand. He's not completely stupid this delinquent student. He's chosen a fairly good area, out of immediate priority range of the Discipline Committee and out of Kyoya's range entirely as he is out doing patrols somewhere not even remotely close.

He glares at her and honestly, it's becoming quite irritating actually.

She's done nothing to earn his ire.

"You don't deserve to be Vongola Decimo... A runt civilian like you.. Hell! As if I could allow that!! Reborn, is it true that if I kill her, I'll be Decimo?"

"Correct!" Reborn's chirpy tone appears from the tree. She glances at him and he's as immaculate as ever, dressed in his suit, tie and fedora.

Sakura's brow furrows in a mix of confusion and annoyance. "Wait, that—"

But Gokudera isn't interested in letting her talk.

" _DIE_!" he yells as if his mere words would cause her to drop dead. He proceeds to pull out dynamite— _bulky dynamites_ —from his person and lights them up with the cigarette he is smoking. Sakura's eyes widen as she dodges his first wave.

Thankfully, Kyoya's habit of attacking on sight pays off because no matter how hard he tries, Gokudera couldn't hit her.

"Gokudera Hayato is a hitman I called up from Italy," Reborn says, still as chirpy as this morning, "I've never met him before but by reputation, he is known as Smokin' Bomb Hayato. It is said he is a human exploding device as he conceals dynamites all over his body."

Honestly, Gokudera needs to work on his speed because she has time to shoot Reborn a betrayed look. He's supposed to protect her from hitmen— ** _Not. Call. Them. Up._**

Sakura twists, making sure to diffuse bombs as she goes. Her fingers burn every time she manually diffuses the ones in mid-air. "You know this makes no sense—" Sakura tries to placate the newly-arrived hitman. Unlit dynamites fall to the ground, taking up valuable foot space.

"Shut up and stop dodging! Double bomb!" Sakura internally rolls her eyes.

Like _that_ has **_ever_** worked.

"Why don't we talk this over?" Sakura flips to avoid stepping on a particular group of dynamites littering the ground.

Gokudera perhaps sensing a losing tactic takes out double the amount of bombs. "There's nothing to say!!" Gokudera yells in frustration.

The sheer amount of bombs in the air means she has to work double-time but even so she doesn't get all of them. It's frustrating because she's sure Lee would have gotten all of them. Instead, she has to dodge the bombs that do go off. Internally, she cringes at how destroyed the area is getting.

Oh, she would be hearing about that later.

"Triple bomb—" Gokudera starts, but this is where he makes a mistake. Triple bomb was apparently his first attack but cranked up to 300%. It's obvious he hadn't practised this enough as he wasn't able to comfortably hold the dynamite sticks in his fingers and they slip through lit.

Rookie mistake really.

It tells her a lot about his status as a hitman. He can't be _that_ good if he failed to even graze her. She didn't even touch him and yet he's already made a fatal mistake.

"Sh—"

It really is an irresponsible use of weapons and now Sakura is the one on clean-up.

For the ones on the floor, she takes out the fuses with dirt and the tips of her toes. For the ones still in the air, there's too many and she dares not hit them, instead she removes her jacket from her person to wrap the bombs up and then with her strength she threw it high.

The sounds of explosions drown out the rest of Gokudera's cursing.

And now she's down a jacket.. How much did those cost again?

Gokudera has an expression of clear incredulity. Maybe he's smart enough to be reflecting on his life choices.

"Was something like that really worth almost dying for?" she asks not really expecting an answer, "Your life is not meant to be cut so short." Sakura surveyed the area, taking advantage of her opponent's shock. The school grounds are sort of beaten up but nothing that couldn't be fixed surely.

She doesn't take her eyes off him but even still she startles when he enthusiastically bows on the dirt ground.

"Wha— _Jyuudaime!!_ " Gokudera shouts, his voice for the first time happy—No, ecstatic even.

Sakura does not know what to make of this sudden change of heart. First he glares at her and now he's bowing in happiness? It's a drastic change.

"In reality, I didn't care about being Decimo!" he rushes to explain, she doesn't know what expression is on her face but it is _not_ a blank one. "It's just that when I heard that the heir was Japanese and around my age... I had to test your strength. And now I know you are worthy! To save the life of someone like me! I'll follow you until I die!!" he proclaims, a complete 180.

Sakura stares, searching for a trick.

She finds none. "I—Er—I wasn't going to let you die over a misunderstanding..."

"Congratulations, Sakura," Reborn says as he re-enters the conversation like he didn't try to kill her, _again_ , "You have gained your first subordinate. Having the loser serve under the winner is a Famiglia Law."

"I—Um—Is that a real law?" How did things get this way? In 10 minutes less, she gained a follower. "You can stand now... Gokudera-kun."

Gokudera, after all that, is stubborn. "No, I am not worthy after attacking you."

It annoys her a little bit.

"Well, I am addressing you and I want to see your face."

He quickly stands, "yes, Jyuudaime!"

Sakura, meanwhile, is not used to such exuberant following of her orders. His face is earnest and it's creeping her out a little actually.

"Ah, anyway, Reborn-sensei," Sakura says, "What's with this roundabout way to get us to fight? ...That lie wasn't even remotely believable.."

When all he does is take out 2 mini-flags with 'I just got a follower! <3' on them and proceeds to give one to her, she gives it up as a lost cause.

"Let's get out of here before Kyoya arrives. I think that's enough fighting for today.." She lets the flag poke out of her bag.

_...It is kind of cute._

She parts ways with Gokudera, the hitman she's not sure is here to kill her or follow her, and heads home with Reborn, the hitman she's not sure is here to kill her or train her.

These days she doesn't have many options.

She thought she would see Gokudera in class the next day. She was prepared for that at least.

Well, she was wrong.

"Morning, Jyuudaime!"

Gokudera stands just past her house gates. He's dressed similarly to yesterday. Truly nothing has changed besides his complete attitude reversal.

"Gokudera-kun.. Good morning. What are you doing outside my house?"

"It is my duty as your right-hand man to walk you to school of course."

"My right-hand man?" Sakura questions. Like an Advisor or her most trusted subordinate? Someone like Shizune-senpai or Shikamaru? Wait, shouldn't she get to decide who she wanted as her right hand? Seeing his adoring expression, Sakura decides then and there that that's a headache for another day. "Ahh, but I always head in early for Student Council work. You would probably be bored waiting for school to start..."

Wait, how long has he been waiting here?

"Not a problem, Jyuudaime. I couldn't sleep so I broke into your office yesterday and completed the rest of your paperwork for the week. And then as a show of my dedication, I filled out the Vice President application form and got the teacher's approval."

"You did!?" Startled was not the word to use to describe her right now. Completely shocked would be closer to the truth.

Nobody has ever applied to join the Student Council. Nobody was that brave.. or that stupid. Or both as Sakura sees his sparkling eyes and remembers the stark contrast to yesterday's death glares.

It's a _really_ sudden change.

"Yes, I took the time to budget the Sports festival coming up and prioritize student complaints according to most urgent and then most frequent." As she listened to him outline exactly how much work he got done in one evening, she is incredulous. She stares at his face and sees the eye bags, but he still speaks about paperwork as if it is the most interesting thing to ever occur.

Which she knows for a fact is false.

Everyone she's ever known has hated paperwork with a passion. They would complain, avoid, redirect and run all in the name to not touch a single pen. Tsunade-shishou, Kakashi-sensei— _heck even Shikamaru occasionally_ —would push paperwork onto her if they could. In the end, she would complain and gripe and swindle desserts from them before completing their work.

It was familiar to her.

After all, it was way easier for her to shoulder all the work and squeeze compensation from them than it is for her to get them to do even half of the work. Often, she's the one who made sure it's done properly, considering Kakashi-sensei always wrote bare minimum and sometimes wrote in pictures.

She's glad he's not around to discover emojis.

Just thinking about it would be catastrophic.

It's a testament to his field skills that shishou lets Kakashi-sensei get away with half the shit he does.

Before she knew it, they were in the Student Council room staring at the neatly piled of papers.

"Thank you, Gokudera-kun... This means I've caught up with the paperwork.. I was falling behind with all the tutoring Reborn gives me. It was pretty careless of me.." Considering everything fell on her.

"You mean this wasn't the work for the rest of the week??!" One word that describes Hayato is crushed. No word fits better. "Jyuudaime, I've failed you!!"

"No, that's fine you've done plenty. This... is enough. You've been a great help."

The expression of complete adoration Hayato gives her this time leaves her breathless.

She's known adoration and crushes of course. She's been on the receiving end quite often really. Moegi would shadow her on her hospital shifts to learn from her. Lee made it a point to run laps around Konoha on his hands in her honour.

But.. there's something so selfless in doing her _paperwork_.

It was so foreign a concept that she did not know what to say, what to do.

"You can coordinate the work now since you have a Vice President." Reborn pops up out of the wall. Apparently, in the time he has to spare, he's made multiple hideouts around the school.

"Reborn-san!" Hayato, bless him, is completely taken unaware. Sakura knows by now not to give Reborn the satisfaction.

"Yeah.. I could," she says only half-listening to the following conversation between the two hitmen.

The neat pile of papers is somehow hypnotising.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Little did Sakura know that Gokudera budgeted the Sports Festival to include way more bombs & mafia-related activities than was proper. & when he meant prioritise student complaints, he just threw out the ones he thought was dumb (which was most of them). She had to go around collecting more student complaints. A lot of the new ones complained on the Vice President.
> 
> 2\. I reread the chap & it's Family instead of Mafia law—which was surprisingly believable?
> 
> 3\. Reborn's version of friendship is to beat them up & get them to follow you... Wait, that actually explains a lot...
> 
> 4\. Sakura switched from last name to first name when he joined the Student Council & not when he proclaimed his loyalty. it's his actions that spoke to her.
> 
> 5\. Reborn knows statistically (& personally) that girls like cute things. For Sakura, this is true. (Reborn went from to die for hot to dead cute. He adapted.)
> 
> 6\. I don't condone smoking. Not even to light dynamites. Don't be Gokudera. Also don't try to blow people up.
> 
> 7\. Gokudera is the epitome of 'Go big or go die'.
> 
> 8\. This is officially the most chapters I have ever published a story! Look at all my growth! Posting this story, helped me actually write it. So I would like to thank each & everyone of you (& me of course) for making this possible. It's been over a month & we still going strong. Most of the time I feel like I'm talking to myself in these ANs & thats why they so weird.
> 
> 9\. Let me be frank with you guys, my exams are from 17th June to 2 July. We have an update on 17th June, 27th June, & 7th July. I'm not sure whether to go ahead with the update on 17th June because it will definitely distract me like crazy but also when I come out of 2 exams on 18th it would be like a shining beacon of hope. I have thought about not updating on 17th & 27th to instead update both on 2th July straight after exams, but ultimately scrapped that idea as I'm selfish & want to read the maximum amount of reviews from you guys. What do you guys think? I'm sure some of you have exams too. If we all have a common end time for exams, I could post up a chapter to lighten everyone's spirits. If you guys would prefer I didn't update around this time to not distract you I understand. I have no self-control too.


	6. Fire to Smoke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. For some reason I feel awkward & terrified to reply to comments in AO3?? I didn't think I would be since I say whatever in these AN. Maybe it's because I too haven't been reviewing my fav stories. Damn how does social anxiety transcend like this?

"Leave. I sit here now." She watches her classmate scuttle away, scared off by a glare of Hayato's. She says nothing, though she did give Yamada an apologetic smile, which he did not see. She's unsure whether this was a good thing or not as her new Vice President sits next to her in class. The rest of the class, meanwhile, bursts into gossip, some marking her off as good as dead.

One, she's their President, you think they would have more faith in her. Two, she survives Kyoya's bullshit, you think they would have more faith **in her _abilities_.

"Oi, monkey! If you're picking on our Kaichou again then kindly shove off."

"Hana-chan!" Kyoko mildly scolds her best friend before facing Hayato, "But we won't let you pick on Sakura-chan, Gokudera-kun. She's a really kind person."

Sakura startles when both Hana and Kyoko stick up for her. Considering she has never needed anyone to defend her before.

It's well— _It's new._

Though it's best to leave the matter of yesterday behind them all.

"No, it's fine. Gokudera-kun and I settled our differences yesterday. We have an understanding now," Sakura placates.

"Tch. Who are you, hags?" Gokudera rudely says, not interested in keeping the peace at all. Hana's nostrils flare, her eyes take on an unholy glint. She proves the debate club's capability by snapping out something equally offensive in an instant.

It devolves quickly from there.

Kyoko, meanwhile, ignores the verbal match as if it was a television program running in the background, "Oh, that's such a relief! I wanted to check in on how you felt last night but I didn't have your email...."

"Oh, that's not necessary. You can use the Student Council email to get in touch. Besides, it'll take more than a little classroom disruption to put me down."

"But still, we worried." Kyoko pushes, "And you are also always busy with the Student Council.."

"That's right. We only really see you when you're in class with us. You're a hard one to pin down, Sawada," Hana adds in, suddenly interested in the conversation.

"Oh, really?" Sakura laughs it off. She likes it that way.

"Yeah, so that's why I was wondering if we could exchange emails? That way it'll be easier to communicate. After all, I can't be messaging the school email. It wouldn't be appropriate. With a personal one, we could meet up to go to cafes and hangout outside school whenever we have free time! It'll be really great!" Kyoko mentions her final point, hoping to incentivise the deal.

Suddenly, Sakura wants to talk about anything else. "Oh—I—Um—"

"Don't be so annoying! Jyuudaime doesn't have to give you witches anything!" This time both Hana and Kyoko took offence. Hana because he called them annoying witches. Kyoko because she's not making _Sakura-chan_ do _anything_.

Seeing Gokudera explode like that on two people that were not actually that bad made her feel guilty. Kyoko and Hana were both nice people, more mature than her other classmates. They gossip of course but unlike her other classmates, they were not petty about it.

It should not be a problem really if she gave them her email.

"If you give me your emails," Sakura's voice cut through the argument in front of her, halting it, "I could send you a message now.. If that's fine." Kyoko brightens instantly. Sakura hands her phone over and Kyoko placed her details. The same occurs with Hana. Sakura sees the complex expression of upset and longing warring on Hayato's face and decides she might as well since he is technically her Vice President. "Gokudera-kun? It's your turn."

Hayato brightens like she's given him the world. "It would be an honour!" he says and means.

She sends them all a simple 'hi' and sees them check their phones just in time for the teacher to walk in and the class to start. All through the first class, her thoughts stray to the 3 new emails on her phone and the simple replies she got back throughout the class.

..

* * *

..

"Sawada-san? A word?"

"Yes, sensei," she calls out. Turning to the group of three whose _suddenly_ crowding her table she says, "You should eat first. I'll try to be quick." She hopes this won't take long. She's not sure about leaving Hayato with the girls.

"Yes...?"

"Ah, Sawada-san.." Kumiko-sensei glances away from Sakura to behind her, and instantly Sakura knows what this is about, "I heard you have gained a new.. Vice President. Now, well, the teachers and I feel that it's best for everybody if you could make sure he keeps within school guidelines. Genko-sensei was quite displeased when he found the new student crashing his home and threatening him." Sakura doesn't know why she didn't connect the dots earlier, of _course_ Hayato broke into the Genko's house, "I'm sure it would be better if the committee got along with their Teacher Advisor, right?"

Like Genko-sensei cared shit if the Student Council was run well.

He's never put any work in it before.

"As the President, you have to set an example to the other students. You have a bright future, Sawada-san, even with a Vice President like Gokudera-kun. You can do it. The teachers believe in you."

Sakura nods more for something to do than a lack of anything to say. Her homeroom teacher decides that that is satisfactory and takes her cue to leave.

What _bullshit_.

The teachers would never dare try to imply anything like this to Kyoya or even Kusakabe. That shit teacher advisor doesn't even have the guts to approach her himself, getting Kumiko to do it.

"What is it, Jyuudaime?" Hayato asks immediately when she returns to which Sakura waves him off.

"It's nothing really." She sits and begins to dig in, hoping to remove this bitter taste from her mouth. She listens to Kyoko and Hana's easy chatter with half an ear, motioning to her food when they try to drag her into the conversation. She really does need to finish the food from home but also it's a convenient excuse not to express her bad mood. Hayato is already done with his lunch and instead balances his chair on two legs in boredom, not wanting to engage with the girls at all. Sakura looks over the unwrapped sandwich package he still hasn't thrown away and it's no wonder he finished so fast. The sandwich he bought has a maximum of 3 ingredients and the bread is borderline stale.

It was still the best one money-wise.

Sakura leans back in her chair, sighing. Kyoko blinks at her, broken out of her own conversation. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura smiles, sheepish. "It's nothing really. Kaa-san just packed a lot.." Sakura motions to her bento and she haven't yet gotten half-way.

"Oh, are you on a diet too?"

Sakura hums. "Not really. I just burn off what I eat with sports. It's less of a hassle. But if I go home with this, kaa-san will get angry."

"So?" Hana says, raising one eyebrow, "Get someone else to eat it then. Give it to the new monkey there. If he's going to sit here, he might as well do something useful. Kyoko, didn't you have those chopsticks from the restaurant a while back? Do you still have it?"

"Oh! I think so!" Kyoko rummages in her back before finally flourishing the wooden chopsticks Hayato's way.

Hayato scowls at her, at the chopsticks but especially at Hana. Hana glares right back.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "Ah, it's okay, Gokudera-kun. If you don't want to eat it, I'm not going to force you," Sakura interjects. She half expects him to start throwing curses around again. Instead, he snatches the chopsticks, grabs her bento and starts aggressively digging in.

Hana snorts.

But Sakura makes sure his eyes are on her when she says, "Thank you, Gokudera-kun."

Hayato turns red, which is a mistake Hana pounces on. Her eyes are sly when she says, " _Oh,_ is the transfer student _blushing?"_

"Hana-chan, don't tease! I think it's really cute."

This only made things worse.

Throughout lunch, anyone who wanted to talk to her decided it wasn't worth it. Hayato's glare kept even the older students away. Sakura would be more worried if they didn't already have the ability to just email the Student Council.

If it is really important, she'll hear about it sooner or later.

All in all, her lunch break is interesting.

..

* * *

..

"Herbivore."

It's second nature by now to dodge Hibari's uppercut. The problem with Kyoya's movements was not anything he was consciously doing. He was just a bit predictable. He either takes the route that causes the most pain or the route that ends the fight the quickest. On his especially foul moods, both routes are the same.

She hoped to postpone seeing him but it was too much to ask for.

What she did not factor into her plans is one Gokudera Hayato.

"You bastard! How dare you attack Jyuudaime!!" And then because he's already proven to lack self-preservation skills, Hayato pulls out his dynamite.

" _Ah_ —Wait, Gokudera-kun!" But a green fan stops her from interfering, attached to deceptively strong child hand.

"Reborn-sensei, _he will—!_ " But it's already too late, with a speed that Hayato is unable to match, Kyoya hits Hayato's solar plexus to disorient him and then between his shoulder blades to knock him out.

All before Hayato could manage to land a hit.

The fan disappears and finally, she can interfere, Sakura stops the third hit with her palms. "That's enough, Kyoya. You wanted to speak to me, _not_ him."

She watches in vindictive amusement as he tries and fails to move his tonfa. Like she thought he swings the other one around and she grabs that one too.

Smirking, she crushes the metal until both are unusable.

He stares at his weapons and then at her.

She can tell he's this close to attacking her anyways.

It's laughable though. They both know he hasn't fought barehanded since he was 8 and first gained the tonfa. His knuckles turn whiter and satisfaction fills her.

"Try. You still haven't managed to land a hit yet... And it's been _years_."

Kyoya uncharacteristically ignores this taunt. "I see you finally gained a subordinate," he says instead.

A mix of disappointment and annoyance fills her, and she manages to just not roll her eyes.

Sakura expertly ignores this observation. After all, it was his fault she never had a team in the first place.

Kyoya turns and strides away, obviously done with this much of social interaction.

On cue, Kusakabe arrives for clean-up, "He's just stressed from the Sports Festival. It's behind schedule, isn't it?" he says.

"I'll deal with it," Sakura replies. Kusakabe nods in acceptance.

"The repairs from yesterday..." Sakura grimaces, she knew that would come up sooner or later.

"I'll take responsibility for that," Sakura says but Kusakabe gives her a wan smile.

"No need, I can get one of the other guys to fix it." Sakura smiles gratefully; She would've done it but now her weekend would not be wasted.

"And Sawada-san.. Congratulations on the Vice President." Sakura returns his smile, uncertain but he's already off to probably handle the rest of Kyoya's mood.

Her smile drops as soon as he leaves, turning to Reborn she asks, "Why didn't you let me handle it? Now Gokudera-kun got hurt for nothing."

"It's not for nothing." Sakura's eyes narrow when Reborn doesn't elaborate further. A groan interrupts before she can enquire further.

Sakura squats, leaning over as she observes Hayato slowly regaining his bearings, "What the hell... That _bastard_! Jyuudaime! You're alright!"

Sakura flicks Hayato's forehead.

He startles, astonished.

What she really wants to do is hit him until he flies 100 metres away but she's not comfortable yet to display that sort of familiarity... Also, he probably wouldn't survive, not all of us could be Naruto after all.

"I'm doing a lot better than yourself." She stands when she's sure that the greatest wounds he has are just very painful bruises. She offers her hand and he takes it on autopilot, "You can't pick a fight with Kyoya without knowing what you are getting into. I've known him since kindergarten sadly, dodging is second nature."

Hayato grumbles, dissatisfied. Sakura eyes him considering.

"Work on your speed first." When his expression still doesn't change, unease creeps its way among her ribcage closing in.

But still, she lets none of that show.

"Do you still want to be on the committee? Kyoya stops by semi-regularly."

With that, Hayato explodes on her, "I won't let that bastard get in your way!! Next time, I'll get stronger to beat him up!"

Hayato's earnest nature startles her and saddens her in the same breath. Because... at that moment, it was such a Naruto thing to say.

"Okay.. I'll be waiting." Sakura smiles softly, automatically.

She snaps out of it a moment later. _Why the hell did she say that?_ Before she can retract anything, Reborn comes to the rescue.

"You still have a long way to go, Gokudera, before you can be on the same level as Hibari. You have to first step up your training. I'll allow you to join Sakura's training sometimes."

Hayato gasps, honoured and distracted all at once, "It's an honour!"

Sakura smiles but it doesn't distract her from her misstep.

..

* * *

..

"Our main priority is the health and wellbeing of the student population. The _entire_ student population, including the Disciplinary Committee. Kyoya's a little harsh on them but everyone turned out fine. Each of them used to be troublemakers, you know? We listen to the students' complaints, worries, their stories and we react accordingly." They're in the Student Council now—her, Hayato and Reborn—and Hayato looks right at home taking space on the couch. Sakura, meanwhile, is checking Reborn's new hideout he built in the wall. She thinks he used part of the vent or maybe he just started anew. Her search hasn't found any structural instabilities at least.

"Technically, we're also the students to look up to but—" Sakura looks at the way Hayato dresses, "I think as long as you're not against Kyoya directly, nobody would bother you about it."

His fingers he tucks in his pockets. She wonders if he is sulking from when she told him he couldn't smoke on campus. "How do we interact with _them,_ " Hayato spits out or maybe he says normally. Generally, he has only shown 2 emotions: Pissed off or overjoyed.

Even so, Sakura knows which them Hayato's talking about.

"The Student Council is in charge of the student body, not including those of the Disciplinary Committee. That is not to say they can do whatever they want, of course. If you think one is slacking or abusing their status, you can tell me or you can tell Kusakabe Tetsuya. He's Kyoya's second in command. Either way, Kyoya will hear about it and straighten it out.

"The Disciplinary Committee like the name suggests takes care of the disciplinary actions. Uniforms, safety," Sakura rolls her eyes, "crowding are just some of the things they regulate. Kyoya sets a patrol that he enforces. It covers the majority of Namimori. It's a co-leadership. The Student Council is not _under_ the Disciplinary Committee. People understand this that's why they come to us."

"So if that bastard oversteps, I'll blow him sky-high," Hayato says, happy with his conclusion.

Sakura grimaces. "Preferably, don't do that but also don't let Kyoya push you around. I'm not sure yet how this would work but if you think he's overstepping his bounds you come to me. The Student Council committee is new, we'll work things out."

Reborn decides this is a brilliant time to chime in, "Civilians generally don't have any use for weapons so they don't carry any."

Hayato scoffs.

"It's true," Sakura affirms, finally having enough of the hideout. She's already accepted that most if not all her conversations would eventually get back to Reborn anyways. Also if the door and the windows are unavailable for any reason, this could be a good hideout. Uncomfortable but usable. But most importantly, ridiculously well-hidden. If she didn't see Reborn come out, she would think it was just the wall.

Makes her more paranoid about walls now actually.

"They are also soft so you can't threaten to blow them up. They might die of a heart attack," Reborn continues.

"Well.. I wouldn't go that far.."

"They are also really weak and on a lower lev—"

"O _kay_ —That's not helpful anymore," Sakura interrupts, she's not sure what kind of preconceptions Hayato came with but she didn't need Reborn to give him any more. "The point is we _both_ protect them. The Student Council with their wellbeing while the Disciplinary Committee protects their safety. We have this same goal towards peace."

Hayato glances to Reborn. Reborn give the slightest of nods back.

Sakura ignores this.

..

* * *

..

"What's that?" Reborn asks.

Sakura takes out the carefully cared for box. "Something I got a long time ago," she says, distractedly. She remembers saving up enough money to buy them. She remembers impatiently waiting for them in the mail.

To the world, it is just a novelty.

To her, it was a ghost from her past.

She carefully places them in a holster and hangs it around her hips. She stares herself down in the mirror and doesn't recognise herself. She almost can't believe there was once a time when this was a staple item in her wardrobe, now she is constantly aware of the new weight.

It feels _alien_.

It feels borderline **_wrong_**.

She remembers stubbornly wearing them everywhere for weeks on end. It was only when 3 months went by and she never once touched them for anything but maintenance that she reluctantly decides to put them away.

After all, what use are they in a civilian life?

She heads downstairs, keenly aware of the hitman following her.

"Where are you heading, Sa-chan? Dinner will be ready soon," Nana asks, poking her head out of the kitchen.

"Just to the backyard. I just want to practise again," Sakura says, suddenly shy in the presence of an extra guest.

"Oh, is it maintenance time? Do you want me to throw your targets at you?"

Sakura shakes her head. "It's fine. Not this time," she replies. She slides open the sliding door into the backyard. She can see the signs of wear in the tree, in the fence, in the targets carefully handmade.

How many years has she been doing this routine?

She's forgotten already.

She reaches and pulls out a shuriken. These would have been handy against Hayato. If she could've cut off the dynamite fuses, her fingers wouldn't have been burned, maybe she wouldn't have had to replace a jacket. She weighs it, running a thumb against its flat side.

It's not the same.

The quality is not nearly what she's used to, she thinks. It's hard to remember sometimes. All she knows is that it's different. She's not sure if that is because the weapon is different or if it's her that's different.

Sakura breaths, centring herself.

It's always the beginning that's the hardest. The acclimatising herself to the weight, the feel and the finger spacing. She feels strange.. like she's playing pretend.

No matter how good her aim gets that hasn't gone away.

She throws one and then grimaces instantly, not even looking at her target.

The angle was completely wrong.

She was too slow.

A glance at the tree confirms it. She misses her mark on the tree. She placed an 'X' in red and then when that's riddled with holes, she placed a similar black one above it.

She hears more than she sees it.

Three shurikens appear in her hand as fast as it flies out of it. Three thuds she hears as they hit targets she once painstakingly made. She spins before she consciously knows why as she lets fly another two shurikens lose.

It is only then that she realises that Reborn has decided to be helpful.

Sakura smirks, shutting her eyes.

It's easier this way to follow her senses and trust her instincts. When she can't see the house and the neighbour's house, or even the tree in her backyard, it's almost like she's in a training ground again... Just sharpening her skills after a long shift in the hospital.

She doesn't hesitate when she draws and fires in rapid succession kunai after kunai, shuriken after shuriken. Her footsteps take on a familiar dance until eventually, her pack is too light.

She doesn't hear a bang but her last kunai ricochet away with a foreign, loud clang.

Her eyes snap open and only then she notices how hard she's breathing. Her eyes search for that last disturbance and find it.

"Was that... a real bullet?" She picks it up and sure enough, a metal bullet bent but recognisable lies between her thumb and forefinger.

"Not bad, Sakura. You should carry that with you all the time."

Sakura stares uncomprehendingly at Reborn's back as he heads back inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Welcome back! You guys have been supremely patient, I see you checking in (& views are pretty consistent surprisingly. Theres only so many times you can reread a story) so here have the better Hayato chapter. I know last chapter was lacking but it also met the 2k chap limit so. It's okay, dear readers, for the next month or so this story will deliver. After that who knows? (I mean deliver the moments you & I both want. Some of my favourite chaps coming soon in screens near you.)
> 
> 2\. In this chapter, Kyoya is more mature than Sakura.
> 
> 3\. I've started referencing Kyoya because its a point that nobody joins the Council because they fear him. But I got until Hayato & we haven't seen a hair of Kyoya & I was like this is no good? One of the hardest things of writing is showing & not telling. So here is a glimpse of the demon of namimori. I struggled so much with his one line you cannot even believe so I just wrote what I originally drafted. It still doesn't sound completely right. Did you know manga intro Kyoya is so talkative? Do you think he talks to himself? But since now he semi sees Tsuna & gang regularly he stops because he doesn't want to encourage interaction? That's my new headcanon.
> 
> 4\. If Sakura ever owned a diary, she burned it the very night Reborn came.
> 
> 5\. I was going to have Hana curse but she probs think boys who curse as stupid monkeys and so won't do it herself. Either way Kyoko is already scandalised.
> 
> 6\. I know the general rule is to only put ' when people are talking (Eg. doesn't becomes does not normally) but I write this for fun & couldn't care less.
> 
> 7\. Japanese teachers call their students differently. Middle school, girls get -san & boys -kun. Elementary, everyone gets -chan. High school, boys get called -san more often in preparation for college & working life. It also depends on the teacher (as seen in chap 1 with Nezu who leaves out honorifics entirely).
> 
> 8\. I'm drafting a naruto hunger games story & if you can't see how that would work, you know what same. But out of all my story ideas, that called to me most easily & strongest to draft out. (cries in my shisaku corner, why won't you work damn it!?) Keep an eye out for it someday maybe if I can get the plot to work. Don't expect it anytime soon tho, I'll tell you when. I need a beta for the hunger games world (if you interested) cause I don't have the books anymore.
> 
> 9\. What's the plot of this you ask? Middle school. That's the plot.
> 
> 10\. I'm trying out 2 different summaries, one here and one on Fanfiction. Tell me which one you like better.


	7. Yamamoto Takeshi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Warning (if you haven't read the manga or don't know about Takeshi's character arc or who he even is): Non-graphic attempted suicide + Middle school problems. It shouldn't be a problem unless you very sensitive. If you want to keep reading, you have to be in charge of your own actions, like all the preteens who stumble into their first 'sexy' scene because they read a story rated higher than what you should be reading. This will probably be the only warning because this fic deals with canon-typical mature themes.
> 
> 2\. If you commented with '?', chances are that I have replied. Thank you for your patience as I get over myself. It was quite a trial let me tell you.
> 
> 3\. If you bookmark with spoilers, make sure to tick private bookmark. @TheGreatIroko, my dear, I'm not sure if you bookmarking for yourself or commenting for me. I appreciate your words anyway.

Clouds blanket the sky like a march to war. She doesn't like the look of it. Unease crawls among her limbs and Sakura wonders why.

Hayato sent her to school earlier and then left to restock on his dynamite. It's a subdued day without his fiery personality. She misses him actually, it's never boring with him.

The unease only grows stronger.

She's in between classes when the classroom doors slam open, a random year mate of hers practically shouts out, "Did you hear Yamamoto from class 1A is on the roof!!? _He's going to jump!_ "

Her heart stills only long enough for her to understand before she's out of the classroom faster than even the ones closest to the door. The guy who came with that abrupt announcement barely leaps out of the way in time.

She sees that she's not the first class to be told. Students and teachers litter the hall, wanting to know what is occurring. The guy has obviously panicked in the face of this crisis. There's no protocol for it after all, which is a mistake she's going to rectify _immediately_.

Resentment boils within her unbidden. These people, knowingly or not, are in her way, and she doesn't have the time nor patience to spare.

Truly, she thinks, is this the time for _gossip_?

"Get back in class!" Sakura barks out, running and dodging but making sure not to touch anyone in her path. " _Now!_ " Sakura glares to anyone who dares to meet her eyes. The students and teachers squeak in surprise and like ants they are quick to return to class.

Cold satisfaction at being followed fills her. This time, she runs uninterrupted.

As soon as she reaches the highest floor, new chaos reigns supreme.

A crowd blocks the hallway, students are pushing against the Disciplinary Committee blockade, demanding to be allowed through to the only emergency staircase leading to the roof. She sees older members of the baseball team and a multitude of girls that are no doubt part of the Yamamoto Takeshi Fanclub.

The Disciplinary Committee is doing an admirable job. The normal students stand no chance against their coordinated efforts.

But Sakura has something they can only dream of: _Extreme athleticism._. and a convenient lackey.

Or rather a specific one behind the crowd, trying futilely to get them to head back to class.

"Sato!" she calls, not stopping. "Give me a lift!" The aforementioned Disciplinary Committee lackey Sato startles, wide eyes spinning to her running form. Seeing his gobsmacked expression, Sakura wonders what Kyoya even trains them to do. " _Now_ , Sato, _" s_ he orders and he scrambles to follow, forming hands just in time for Sakura to kick-off them.

She flips through the air, across the crowd, sticking a perfect landing on the other side. The shocked expression of the students and the Committee warms her as nothing else could. She winks for the hell of it and the nearest students blush.

"The Student Council and Disciplinary Committee has everything under control. Everyone, head back to class. Your cooperation is necessary to handle this matter in as efficient a way as possible." She spins up the stairs before they can formulate a response. The door shuts and then she hears the protests continue again.

She doesn't envy the Disciplinary Committee.

On a mission, she runs up the stairs to meet Kusakabe, blocking off the final door to the roof. She nods in greeting, "Report," she orders.

"Yamamoto Takeshi came to school with an arm in a sling. Took the rooftop keys from one of the Committee. He's there, waiting," Kusakabe states.

She likes Kusakabe.

He's efficient. Facts and no feeling.

No wonder he's Kyoya's second-in-command.

"I'll handle the rest. Get everybody back to class. I want someone on the ground in case. And absolutely do _not_ , under no conditions, let Kyoya up. We need a delicate touch." His grim nod says it all. He lets her through and heads downstairs where he is needed.

Sakura wastes no further time opening the door. It creaks, loud enough to alert the student on the wrong side of the railing.

It's the first time she has seen him all day.

He's dropped his customary smile for a sharp sadness and futile anger. His right arm is in a sling but it is his face which has the brittle quality.

He watches her enter with a seriousness he usually reserves for the baseball field. Every step to him is seen to without blinking.

Desperate targets strike when threatened.

Takeshi, though, says nothing.

Her heart beats a loud tempo, producing more sky flames to prepare her.

She ignores it for the boy in front of her.

"Hey, Takeshi-kun..." Her tone is calm and non-judgemental. Her eyes soften and her hands are open.

She's hyperaware about every movement both of them makes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Often people like him only want a sympathetic ear.

She can be that for him.

"You wouldn't understand, Miss Perfect," Takeshi snaps out. He's been waiting for something, someone and here she is. Sky flames flood her body, she's careful to funnel it into her seal. "You're good at both sports and studies. You run the Student Council all by yourself...

"How could you possibly know what it's like?" He's angry and he's bitter but more importantly, he's hurt.

"Try me," Sakura encourages, not afraid to close that last few metres until she is within arm's reach but separated by a rusty fence.

Takeshi is quiet while thinking and weighing his options. Eventually, he decides to speak.

"My arm..." Takeshi starts, gaining courage from speaking, "is broken.. The doctor— _he said_.. that I will probably never play baseball again. You see, I broke my arm from practising too much, from pushing too hard. He said... the body can only handle so much stress before it breaks and that this was common among athletes who don't know their limits."

He shakes his head, she wonders if he notices that his arm is also shaking. "...Don't you see? It's all my fault. I was only good for baseball and now—now the baseball god threw me away!! _I've let the team down._ My friends only like me because I can _play_ —without baseball.. there's no reason for me to live!" Takeshi's eyes are black pools of cracked glass. They speak to her along with his words.

A desperate boy, hurting and lonely.

It breaks her heart.

She waits for a beat more but he doesn't look at her anymore. He doesn't have anything else to add. Taking a chance she says, "Your life matters, Takeshi... It _does_." Sakura makes sure her eyes catch his eyes and never lets go. "What about your dad?" she asks.

She can see his surprise when her words register and then his guilt followed by shame.

She pushes.

"Your dad loves you, Takeshi. I can see it every time I enter Takesushi. You are his pride and joy— _just you_ —not your ability to throw or catch a ball, not your ability to get a good grade." She takes some steps closer, he doesn't tense up, that's a good sign.

"I know.. You must feel embarrassed and frustrated at being so useless," he hangs onto her words. "Afraid to be left behind. It's like you can't do anything right. It's like there's nobody around to help you.... But that's the thing, Takeshi."

His eyes are misty and so are her own, her own eyes implore him to understand, "help will come... If you're brave enough to reach out for it."

Her hand reaches for his and he grasps it tight, tears streaming down his face.

She pulls him across the fence and she's glad she's stronger than she looks. His legs no longer hold him up and that's fine. They both sink to the ground on the safe side of the fence. She holds him cradled in her arms, careful of the arm in the sling, "Your life is so important, Takeshi. You don't need to throw it away like this."

That seems to be the thing that pushes him to break down crying. Her own tears run down her face as she strokes his black hair. In the privacy of an almost empty rooftop, Takeshi sobs to the world. Sakura mutters reassuring sounds in reply, unsure exactly what she is saying.

It's later, in a minute or 30 or an hour she is unsure, that she is aware of movement at the door. Kusakabe peeks in and she shakes her head slightly, careful not to disrupt the boy in her arms. Kusakabe nods, before closing the door to leave them in peace.

She does not know how much longer they sit there. She never stops running her fingers through his hair, even when her legs go numb and he has long stopped crying. Only when she's sure he's calm and ready does she attempt to herd him down to the nurse's office. By then, classes have long been in session and the hallway is clear.

Thankfully, they meet no one on the way.

While the nurse checks him over, Sakura makes sure to email Kusakabe to get her stuff and Takeshi's.

After a morning like that, he's in no shape to be badgered by anyone, even well-meaning friends. She's not sure if he has fake friends or if it was all in his head but she doesn't want to take that chance.

It does not take long before a Disciplinary Committee member to appear with both of their bags. She thanks him and then the nurse and assures her that she would get Takeshi home safely.

Throughout it all, Takeshi is quiet. That goes the same with the way to his house too. He's wrung out emotionally and physically. Sakura understands and doesn't push.

Seeing the man waiting anxiously in front of the sushi restaurant, Sakura recognises him instantly. Yamamoto-san closed the shop early after the nurse called him.

"Takeshi!" Yamamoto-san runs to meet them as soon as he glimpses his son, wasting no time in pulling Takeshi into a hug.

"I—Oyaji—I'm sorry." Takeshi's voice cracks.

"It's fine, just don't ever do it again. I love you with all my heart, Takeshi." The man is soothing and she knows she has nothing to worry about here.

"Yeah, I love you too, oyaji. I promise, never again." Sakura turns to leave, content that her classmate is safe and in good hands now. Her walk home is slow, she's worn out, but she smiles anyway.

Which is precisely when Reborn decides to show up.

"Yamamoto Takeshi would be a perfect candidate to join the famiglia." His high-pitched voice is at odds with her soft calmness.

Sakura hums, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. She could take advantage of his weakened mental state and it would be fairly easy to do but, "it's more important that he sees that he is loved."

"Tch, you're soft."

Sakura smiles, happy it turned out all right. She'll have to check in with Takeshi later of course but for now, it's good enough. "It doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"You know.. since you skipped the rest of school, now would be perfect to learn Italian."

Sakura laughs. "Bring it."

It's a lot more running than she expects for language learning but she thinks Lee would approve of this kind of training.

..

* * *

..

Sakura sighs.

She's done Reborn's daily required workout and then some since technically she 'skipped' school. Kyoko has sent a copy of today's homework that she missed out on. Kyoko also fretted about whether or not to send it to Takeshi, which Sakura took care off by forwarding the email to Yamamoto-san. She made sure to note that while Takeshi could do them if he wanted, it's not expected, and Sakura would be sure to take care of the teachers. Let his father decide how emotionally stable Takeshi is. It also helps in showing that they were people who cared. Takeshi would be hard-pressed to say Kyoko didn't genuinely care.

All that's left is...

"What's wrong?" Reborn asks, already prepped in pyjamas, ready for bed. Sakura's envious.

Her fingers are cold when she drags them over her face. Cold like the rooftop but not as cold as dead bodies.

Stop.

"Where did I go wrong?" She had one job—*one job—*as the President: Protect the Students' Health and Wellbeing. "Takeshi's in my _class_. He sits 2 seats down to my right." How could she have _missed_ this?

Has she been too blinded by the mafia life? Has she been too busy rushing to meet Sports Festival deadlines? Was she too busy _interacting_ instead of observing during lunch breaks?

"Where do you think you went wrong?"

That's helpful, thanks Reborn. If she knew, she wouldn't be asking, right?

She hears the click of a gun. "Don't get sassy with me."

She doesn't look up but she did take a deep breath. She needs to calm down. This wasn't even remotely the most dangerous thing she's ever done in either lives—she swears Reborn's introduction shaved off 5 years from her youth (and she'll age horribly at this rate). This also wasn't the most unexpected—the Sound Invasion was unexpected, the first time seeing Lee's green spandex was unexpected, the baby hitman coming to tutor her was unexpected.

But still, why did it affect her so?

"Takeshi is friendly and popular. He is always smiling and is always up for a good time. He's really.." she searches for a more encompassing word but could only come up with, "Nice.."

"Who does he hang out with most?"

Sakura's eyebrows scrunch together, no doubt enhancing her forehead. Hang out with most?

He's always surrounded in class, much like Kyoko in that regard. But _unlike_ Kyoko, Takeshi doesn't have someone like Hana.

Kyoko took Hana everywhere, even the washroom. Hana did the same. Out of the classroom girls, it is undeniable that they are best friends. Back in her time in the Academy, Ino and her used to do the same.

But girls are different from boys.

That didn't necessarily mean anything.

Shikamaru and Chouji were clearly best friends and they didn't hang out all the time.

Besides that, Takeshi is also popular in the baseball club. He has the biggest female fanbase for a first-year middle schooler. She's never even heard a _bad word_ spoken about him by his peers that weren't said in jest—that _Takeshi didn't laugh at himself_.

"He..." Sakura starts, but doesn't know how to follow up, "would hang out with whoever invited him? The guys in class, the baseball teams, _other_ sports teams. But he's always invited. He definitely has friends. He has a lot of good qualities. I don't—"

"Then, is his assumptions correct?"

"Of course it's not correct!!" Sakura snaps back, even when she knows Reborn cares not for anything but total respect, "Even without his arm, lots of people like him _for him_."

Reborn, this once, completely ignores her tone and she's grateful for it. "Are you certain? Would you bet your life on it?"

Sakura barely prevents a scoff. "Of course."

"Would you bet Yamamoto's?"

That stops her in her tracks.

For all her blustering, Sakura can't reply with a confirmation.

She's sure some of her peers like Takeshi because of who he is but...

She knows how hurtful children can be, whether they mean too or not.

Reborn's eyes are knowing. She _hates_ it. What would he know about teenagers and friendship? He's like 5.

Reborn, having decided that he has driven his point home, circles back to the main topic, "So how did you miss it?"

Sakura could cite a whole platitude of reasons, including but not limited to Reborn himself, the Student Council, Hayato, Kyoko and Hana's lunchtime gossip, but she knows what it all boils down to. "I wasn't looking," she says, shame lining her words.

So much for looking underneath the underneath.

"How would you fix this?"

"...I'll need to check-in with Takeshi tomorrow. I'll definitely have to get the teachers and students off his case. Once he heals, he'll want to get back into sports and I'm sure he'll excel in any sport he chooses.." But he doesn't want any other sport she knows. Takeshi wants baseball.

He's always wanted to play baseball.

"And how do you prevent this from happening again?"

Sakura mulls over this for a moment, thinking. "I'll need more information."

..

* * *

..

Somehow, she is surprised when she finds another unexpected guest waiting just past the gates of her house.

"Yo, Sakura!" Takeshi says, too cheerful for the quiet morning. The girl in question jolts at such a familiar greeting. Memories of a porn-reading, one-eyed sensei saying the same thing briefly flashing across her mind.

"How dare you address Jyuudaime in such a disrespectful way! I'll kill you!" Hayato cuts through her memories with his match-struck temper. It's a good thing too for Hayato takes personal affront to Takeshi's greeting, maybe even to his whole existence.

"Ahh, it's okay, Gokudera-kun," Sakura placates. She doesn't want murder to occur on her doorstep after all. "I've known Takeshi-kun a long time.. since kindergarten, I think. It's a small town."

"Maa Sakura, call me Takeshi! Ta-ke-shi, like you did yesterday." She looks into his eyes and finds not the bare vulnerability of yesterday but not exactly a careless request either.

"My my, Sa-chan, what is with all the noise? Who are these young men? Should you not introduce them?" Nana appears ecstatic, lured to the sounds of exuberance in the morning.

"Oh, ahh, this is Gokudera-kun and—" she makes a split-second decision, "Takeshi. They are my classmates. Gokudera-kun just transferred from Italy."

"Just classmates, Sa-chan?" Sakura flushes. Nana is pouting but it doesn't dim her exuberance even a little. She is incredibly happy to meet Sakura's classmates, considering Sakura never brings anyone home.

"Yes, kaa-san. We better get going or I won't have time to do Student Council things you know. Very busy and all." Sakura pushes both boys away from the house in her attempt to get away.

But Nana is not to be deterred, with one last parting she says, "Make sure to bring them over for dinner!!"

"Okay!" Sakura shouts over her shoulder. Turning back to the boys, she says, "Ahh, sorry about that, she can be a bit embarrassing..."

"Your mom is great, Jyuudaime! To think that I—that I could be—But no, I am not worthy..."

"Yeah Sakura, my oyaji embarrasses me a lot too so it's all good! He would bring out the baby photos around the customers sometimes, haha." He brings one arm behind his head and Sakura watches it considering it was in a sling yesterday. It was definitely his right she remembered but today both are fine, not even a hint of a bandage under his shirt.

Did he fake the stunt yesterday? No, it couldn't be, those emotions he doesn't have the ability to fake.

"You both don't mind coming over for dinner today, do you? I know it's short notice but kaa-san gets ideas and just runs with them... I mean it's okay if you can't, it's not fair of us just to spring it up like this.." Sakura reassures, she knows at least that Hayato has a tendency towards pleasing.

"It would be an honour to eat the cooking of Jyuudaime's mother!"

"Maa, I'm sure my old man won't mind. I'll email him."

"Oh yeah, what were you doing in front of my house, Takeshi? Did Reborn-sensei put you up to this?"

"Reborn? Whose that?"

"Ciaossu!" Reborn appears, amazingly from her bag as if he's an accessory. Takeshi and Hayato startle but Sakura has gotten used to Reborn's need to be everywhere and anywhere. Though, it is impressive how he got into her stuff unnoticed.

It's highly irritating but impressive.

He leaps out onto the wall, fencing someone's house. "I am Reborn, Sawada Sakura's home tutor. I am in charge of refining her into a splendid Vongola Decimo."

"Oh, hey kid! Vongola Decimo? What's that?" Takeshi asks.

"Oh! It's a position—" Sakura cuts in thinking fast, "of a business that I was thinking of working in the future." Sakura glances to Hayato to back her up.

Thankfully, he catches on.

"Idiot! How have you never heard of the Vongola? Leading manufacturers in technology and business in Italy."

"Whoa, Sakura! That's pretty fancy."

"Yeah," Sakura relaxes, "Reborn-sensei is a home tutor hired so I make the qualifications."

Reborn, however, cares not for beating around the bush.

"Sakura is being trained to be a mafi—"

"AHH!" Sakura grabs Takeshi's arm, the one that was never broken, "I forgot about the thing I need to do for Student Council! Let's run!" She proceeds to mostly drag Takeshi to school, though Hayato too ran with them, which is very unnecessary considering they are now atrociously early. Feeling a bit awkward now that Reborn has disappeared and she's got two lost boys following her, she lets them into the Student Council.

If Kyoya catches her, he might 'bite her to death' but it's not like he can touch her so really what is she afraid of?

"Takeshi, where's your sling? It's too early to take it off you know," Sakura asks, this time as good as any.

"Oh, that! Some guy came yesterday and fixed it. He said the other doctor was wrong and said some other stuff but now I can use my arm perfectly well! Good enough for baseball." Sakura's brows furrow throughout the whole explanation.

Bones don't heal overnight.

And even if it did, the body does wear out, that shouldn't be possible.

This is capital S for Suspicious. Highly Suspicious.

"Can I see? Only if you don't mind."

"Sure." Takeshi gives her his arm and Sakura is gentle when she holds it.

"Tell me if it hurts anywhere, okay? Even if it's only a bit."

"Haha, it's fine. It doesn't hurt at all." Internally, that only makes her more suspicious.

Outwardly, she smiles soothingly at Takeshi. She turns and prods but it's only an excuse to allow skin contact for her flames to explore.

If she was better she should be able to do this through clothes, without even touching her subject at all, but small steps climb the mountain and she constantly reminds herself that.

Her flames meet resistance, and she thinks these are Takeshi's own flames. It's interesting but different from chakra resistance. She wonders if he feels anything. Not taking any chances, she only allows the lightest of her flames to travel up and down the length of his arm. She finds nothing wrong in her scan, not that she could heal anything if she did find a problem.

It's frustrating but scanning for a problem is the extent of her current abilities.

"Amazing," Sakura says as she removes her hands from his person, removing any trace of her flames from his body, "It's as good as new."

"Lucky, right?" Takeshi smiles down at her. He's Takeshi from 2 days ago, healed and free. But he also isn't—for there's a new vulnerability in his eyes now that he hides well.

Which he doesn't hide from her.

"Even without your arm, I would not have liked you any less," Sakura says and means.

Takeshi looks away, his cheeks pinking, a hand coming to rub his neck. "Thanks, Sakura."

Hayato plays with a lighter in the background, sullen. He doesn't light a cigarette though. He lights a flame just as quickly as he extinguishes it, before storing it away somewhere on his person. "Tch, you don't deserve Jyuudaime's kindness, Baseball-freak."

"Jyuudaime?"

"It's the position in the organisation I want to work at. In Italian, it means Decimo so that's why it's Vongola Decimo."

"I see." The silence stretches between the three. The awkwardness crawls up on Takeshi via a strained smile. Hayato is content enough to stew in it.

She wonders if it was like this waiting for her to come out of her house.

"I'm sorry for dragging you to school so early. There's really nothing for you to do.." Sakura searches for anything, _anything_ to end this awkwardness, lest Reborn comes back, "Unless.. Do you have any suggestions for the Sports Festival?"

Takeshi brightens, grabbing onto the topic with a desperate intensity, "Haha, I almost forgot that is coming up... Well, oyaji always comes but—" It soon becomes apparent that this was a good decision. Takeshi is a great listener and he has ample of ideas based on being an active participate over the years. He's civilian in ways Hayato is not. Sakura lets Takeshi's words flow through her, processing and taking them to heart before replying.

It is different to have someone to bounce ideas off and exchange ideas with.

It's fun, even when they move to other topics.

Before she knew it, it is time for school to start. Even though they came early, they are almost late to attend the first period.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. This was originally 2 scenes but my beta, wistpossessed (give them a clap guys, having a beta is the best thing ever let me tell you), told me to either put breadcrumbs for Takeshi's breakdown or add a scene in between. Considering I already published the prev chapters, you guys get even more Reborn-Sakura interaction (1000 words) yayyyyyyyyyyyy.
> 
> 2\. I was originally happy with this chapter but then I researched & thought that Sakura talked too much considering it's Takeshi's emotional moment. But I didn't know how convey that understanding without the paragraph worth of talking you know. The thing that is so hard with Takeshi's emotional moment is that it comes before anyone knows him. So storywise its not that big of an impact (I mean I almost cried but I am wayy more invested than you guys). The problem with this story is that Sakura talks too much. And honestly thats never fixed.
> 
> 3\. Oyaji = Dad but like a ruder more friendly way I think
> 
> 4\. Nana could smell friendship being made and like a shark she's going in for the kill.
> 
> 5\. Who's excited for Takeshi? I am! You get a lot of him. You'll probs be sick of him before the year is over.
> 
> 6\. You know that one friend if they were absent the day would just be boring be it because they the centre of the friendship group or the drama queen. Well Hayato is that one friend.
> 
> 7\. I don't know where that wink came from. Suddenly, it was there?
> 
> 8\. I tried to fix some grammar and vocab of the prev chapters but I got so tired so fast and nobody actually cared? So honestly why should I
> 
> 9\. I took Takeshi's injury here from Arakita Yasutomo in Yowamushi Pedal. They would be great middle school baseball rivals. Yes, new headcanon. It would fit in too because Takeshi could have jumped to conclusions after hearing about Arakita. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's not important. (I don't actually know any details of the injury but it seemed. medical. enough.)
> 
> 10\. Rereading Yamamoto's intro chap, it's occurred to me that the only reason he was so open with Tsuna is because well Tsuna is a loser. Tsuna's suddenly doing all these amazing things and he's horrible at everything so what's his secret? It's also because he's not close to Tsuna unlike his 'friends' so if he mentions he's slipping up Yamamoto doesn't feel as bad if Tsuna's disappointed in him or smt. It's not important if Dame-Tsuna thinks less of him. He probs doesn't think all this when confessing but it's definitely fuelling his random help. Tsuna was really amazing because while he talks down himself he's also brutally honest. He doesn't placate Yamamoto meaninglessly or anything with it'll be better he'll get better. He's just saying he should have never gave that bullshit advice because he didn't know shit. He's sorry. Of course he runs away after that but it's pretty commendable really. I think Yamamoto whose always surrounded my people who likes him for his athleticism and popularity, really appreciates that honesty and openness that he never had with his peers.


	8. Mafia Intervention

Sakura grabs Hayato's attention with a touch on his arm. It's lunchtime and they're finally sitting alone. Takeshi has gone to the toilet and the girls went to grab a drink from the vending machine. It was a prime time to gather information. "Gokudera-kun.. Takeshi's arm.." Sakura says and needs not to say any more.

Hayato picks up what she's trying to say. "Someone in the mafia healed it. Reborn-san probably called someone in." He makes sure his voice can't be overheard by her other classmates and she's glad. Already he's learning some subtlety.

"I see.." Sakura says, "I guessed as much."

Hayato eyes her hesitant, for once she doesn't know what he is thinking, "Jyuudaime..." But Takeshi arrives back in the class then, faster than she thought he would. He would've gone straight for their table (as he's sitting with them for lunch) if it was not for well-wishing classmates. Before yesterday, Sakura wouldn't have noticed anything wrong. She watches out for bullies and harassers. She watches out for gossipers and influencers. Simple friend groups were beyond her.

Takeshi is popular to a fault. But he doesn't use it in any particular way except to play more baseball. He doesn't manipulate people. He's happy and friendly to everyone. Because of that, Sakura has never thought he needed looking out for.

She never knew how flawed she viewed the world.

Hayato fist clenches, snapping his chopsticks. That answers whether he could also tell how fake Takeshi's smile is.

She wonders why he cares. It's not like he was there yesterday nor did he have any particular friendship with Takeshi.

The whole morning together, Hayato didn't speak much of anything to Takeshi, except to snap at him on any perceived slights to her. It's to her understanding that Hayato doesn't much care about Takeshi.

Hayato doesn't care about _anybody_ really. Well, besides her that is.

Currently.

A fist slams down on Hayato's table effectively gaining her and everyone else's attention. "Oi, baseball-freak! How long are you going to keep Jyuudaime waiting!?"

"Sorry, sorry." Takeshi laughs, easily placating the short tempers of the other teenage boys of their class. They grumble but none actively dissuades Takeshi, apparently not prepared to go against the fiery temper of the exchange student. Takeshi dallies no longer, making his way easily to them, sitting down.

Takeshi rubs the back of his neck and it's a nervous tick. She removes the attention from him by instead commenting on Hayato's lack of utensils, "Do you have spare chopsticks, Gokudera-kun?"

He tchs, finally noticing his dilemma and that's answer enough.

"Here, Gokudera-kun. If you're going to break your chopsticks, you need to bring extra. You can use mine for now." Sakura hands him her chopsticks.

"No, I—" But even through his automatic refusal and the redness of his cheeks, his features cycle through awe and then extreme gratitude. So grateful he might cry. If he would ever allow himself to cry here that is.

The day is definitely more interesting when Hayato is at school.

"Maa, Sakura, you still haven't finished your food," Takeshi intercepts. Never let it be said Takeshi is a peacemaker, she could tell you right now that is a straight-up lie as he proceeds to scoop up her food with his chopsticks and try to feed her, "Say ahh~"

Sakura doesn't even have time to react because Hayato, predictably and justifiably really, blows up.

"I won't let you harass Jyuudaime!" He stands and makes to take out his dynamite. Sakura panics.

Pulling Hayato back to his seat, she hisses "Sit down! You guys are disturbing the peace." She glances around and sure enough, those closest were hanging onto every word. The drama is more interesting than their own lives.

Takeshi has the gall to laugh and that in turn sets off Hayato again but this time he whisper shouts at him. He also uses a vast array of hand gestures that could be a version of the Italian sign language or just rude gestures, also a lot of death threats. Whichever one that conveys his meaning more efficiently.

It's a very heated one-sided argument.

Sakura decides then and there that they're never going to eat in the classroom again. For the sake of her sanity.

Also for the sake of the Namimori rumour mill.

When the girls arrive, Hayato is still very aggressively into his argument with absolutely no sign of letting up. Sakura shrugs at the girls, sighing. She wonders if she would ever meet boys who could just get along.

..

* * *

..

"Reborn!" She whisper shouts. She sees Reborn chilling in one of his various hideouts littered through the school and proceeds to flag him down in between classes. Seeing as there's nobody around (especially Takeshi), she decides it's safe enough to loiter for a bit. She had to do an errand for Kimiko-sensei but if it takes a little longer, Kimiko wouldn't notice too much. "What was that this morning? What were you thinking!? Takeshi is a civilian. He does not have anything to do with the mafia. You can't just.. _drag_ civilians into this."

"You're a civilian."

"I don't have a choice now, do I?" Sakura retorts, arms crossed, though careful not to crinkle the graded homework papers too much.

"Funny. You don't act like it." Reborn eyes her and she very deliberately uncross her arms, cursing her body. She glances around them again, though she knows there's nobody around. "What's the problem?" Reborn asks like he _didn't already know_ , "You need followers. Yamamoto has potential."

"It's not about potential," Sakura snaps back, "Don't think I don't know how it works, Reborn. If he changes his mind later, there is no leaving."

His eyes though are uncompromising and unsympathetic. "Don't be naive. He's the one following you, isn't he? He should know better than to follow blindly." He shrugs before taking a sip of his still steaming espresso as if it truly is not his problem.

"He's still a kid. He doesn't know any better," Sakura pleads, knowing it's foolish to do so. Reborn would never be swayed with her emotions, not if he believes he is right.

You don't get to where he is if you were easily swayed by someone else's emotions.

Maybe that's why she never became the best too.

It would make sense at least.

"The mafia doesn't care, Sakura. You say you care about him but you're easy to read." His black eyes stare down her brown ones and true to form, he reads her like a book. She never stood a chance. "You don't care if he bloodies his hands, no, you care about him thriving and overcoming you."

"That's not true," Sakura denies, almost desperate.

"Is it not?" Reborn is unconvinced.

Sakura doesn't manage to convince him.

..

* * *

..

Sakura sits and waits in one of the few project rooms Namimori Middle has. This one is located in the library and has a small window on the door. She twists one pigtail over her shoulder and thinks what her shishou would do in her shoes.

Oh, who was she kidding? Tsunade would have sent Sakura to clean up the mess, on the grounds that she was too 'busy' with 'paperwork' and that it would have made a good experience for Sakura instead. Shizune-senpai would have been exasperated but supportive as some things can only be learnt through experience.

Neither of them would hold her hand nor would they let her drown.

Sometimes Sakura misses them so much she _hurts._

She thinks of cutting it, this long hair of hers. It's a dull brown compared to her previous one-of-a-kind pink, but not as rough. Essentially, it's healthy—Though she's not sure how long that will last. She'll get in increasingly dangerous situations and then long hair can only be a liability.

Besides, nobody here knows that her hair is a homage to the greatest woman she's ever known. And when she finally gets her Byakugou seal, nobody here would know that it marked her as a trusted and valued apprentice to Senju Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage.

Anyway, short hair has _meaning for her._

It reminds her that the most important things in life are the people she's surrounded with. It reminds her to never look down on others for something as stupid as looks. It reminds her that _every day_ she's working towards the day she could stand on _their_ level.

But it also reminds her of broken dreams.

To be reminded of her shishou or her broken dreams, it really is no choice at all.

A knock on the door interrupts her thoughts, before opening to the figure of Kiyano-sensei. "Ah, Sawada-san," he says, "sorry for making you wait." Sakura rises and bows slightly, gesturing to the other seat.

"No, I'm sorry for taking up your time. I know you're busy. Thank you for meeting me at such short notice."

Kiyano is the middle-aged, stocky baseball coach. He's generally well-meaning and friendly. If a bit too friendly, he is friends with Nezu after all. Anything with Nezu is never a good sign. He smiles. "It's no problem really to meet with the Student Council President." He chuckles. "Especially if the other choice is meeting with the Disciplinary Committee."

Sakura smiles politely in return. They get comfortable in their chairs before Sakura brings up the matter she needs to address, "I'm sure you've heard about Takeshi..."

Kiyano's smile strains and that answers that.

Sakura's thought about a few ways to go about this conversation. Meeting in neutral ground like a project room would work, especially since it is also away from prying ears. "I want to hear your thoughts about it," she begins vaguely.

"Yamamoto-kun is a good student," Kiyano says immediately. He has expected this. "This incident, while regrettable, is a one-time thing. While faking a broken arm and trespassing on the roof are all serious offences.. he means well." Sakura's face doesn't change. Of course, it would seem to everyone else like Takeshi faked his broken arm. Broken one day and fine the next? No matter how trustworthy Takeshi is, nobody would believe that bullshit.

And Sakura couldn't correct them.

"I've observed Yamamoto-kun since the very first day in the club. He listens well to instructions and he gets along well with other club members. He never complains and he's a hard-worker. Yamamoto-kun acted out and made a mistake. Maybe as a dare from one of the boys or an ill-meaning prank," Kiyano guesses. "It's a part of growing up to make mistakes. Focusing on those mistakes won't help his growth in the long run."

"So you don't think he should be taken off the baseball team?" Sakura asks.

Kiyano flails as if she suggested murder. "Oh no no! Definitely not! I think it's to Takeshi's benefit for him to keep playing." He chuckles again, trying to right himself from where she threw him off-kilter. "I think we both know that he lives and breathes the sport."

"It is as you say, though sensei, he did break school rules. Shouldn't he have an appropriate punishment?"

"Oh, I don't think that's necessary. I'll talk to him at practice later and straighten him out," he affirms, "I'm sure he won't try again."

Sakura understands why Kiyano is almost desperate to believe Takeshi is alright and keep him on the team. She's seen him play numerous times and most of the time, he almost singlehandedly carries the team. There's a guaranteed advantage with Takeshi on the team that Kiyano won't get with anyone else.

It just also pisses her off that Kiyano would prioritise the team's placing rather than Takeshi's wellbeing, as he tries to sweep the necessity of Takeshi's punishment away.

Sakura wishes she could negate any punishment. But the fact is that everybody believes that Takeshi faked his injury. Falsifying serious injuries lead to serious consequences when caught. Doubly so that he broke school rules by trespassing on the roof. Skipping class during all that was the least of it.

But this isn't about all that.

This is about prioritising Takeshi's mental wellbeing.

"I'm sorry, Kiyano-sensei, but I think it's best if Takeshi takes a break from practice for a while." Sakura's decision was mostly made coming into this meeting and nothing Kiyano has said makes her think that it would, even slightly, be a mistake.

Kiyano, meanwhile, does not agree.

"What? No! Takeshi can't leave the team. He needs the team's—his friend's—support, not isolation, after a mistake such as this," Kiyano says it with such conviction. Sakura wants to trust it but she hasn't seen a single person today go out of their way to brave Hayato to check-up on Takeshi. Kyoko and Hana did it for her, and they weren't that close of friends even. "I know Yamamoto-kun's mindset, he has a one-track mind. Once he focuses on something, there's no room for anything else. Besides, his batting average has been going down, that's enough motivation for him to be practising _more."_

Ignoring the whole friendship element, Sakura asks, "Have you thought that maybe Takeshi's been practising too much?"

Kiyano immediately shakes his head. "That can't be. I carefully monitor everyone during training and make sure to check in with student managers every other day. He trains just as much as everyone else."

The thing is Sakura knows Kiyano is a good teacher. He cares for his students, though he can be unintentionally rude and insensitive. He's strict and tries to be as fair as he can. During practice, he pushes his team just enough to improve them.

But the baseball club is one of the most popular clubs, especially for boys. It is consistently the biggest sports club. Tries as he might, Kiyano can't personally train all of them to suit their needs. He makes a general training schedule and then improves on it based on how talented a cohort he gets this season. The other baseball team members she's spoken to say he preaches consistent practice and to not slack off when absent from club activity.

It's necessary. For most students will slack when not monitored, especially during holidays and breaks. Instilling a long-term habit within the members would prevent that.

But Kiyano misstepped. He couldn't monitor their training outside of school. He's probably never needed to.

But then again, he's never had a student quite like Takeshi.

"Do you know that Takeshi sleeps a lot in class?"

Kiyano nods, though it's clear he doesn't know where she's going with this. "Yes, I've heard comments from the teachers.."

"Do you know why?"

"I assume it's because Yamamoto-kun doesn't like his classes?" His eyes apologise, though she does not know what for. "Not all students can be academically gifted I fear.."

The uncalled-for comment ticks her off though she does not show it. This is not about her. It's about Takeshi. "No, Takeshi studies just fine when he puts his mind to it." Sakura stares him down and to his credit, he doesn't look away. "It's because every morning, long before school starts, Takeshi wakes to head to the batting cages."

Kiyano's surprise is unfiltered in his eyes. Sakura doesn't blame him for his ignorance, she wouldn't know either if she didn't come across him a few times on her morning jog.

She continues, "That's on top of your 2 hours of club activity. More often than not, he would also keep practising for another hour, isn't that right? He even practises on the weekends, Yamamoto-san says, sometimes for 5 hours straight." Sakura pauses as she lets that sink in.

Alarm creeps its way on his face and there's no satisfaction in this for her. He doesn't say anything, he can't. They both know that the body has limitations. Maybe he has even witnessed its consequences first-hand.

She knows she has.

Carefully she says, "You're right, sensei, he lives and breathes baseball.

"This situation we're in? It could be so much worse. Trust me when I say that this break can only be good for him."

..

* * *

..

"So, where are we going?" Sakura asks.

"We have an appointment."

"With who?"

Reborn doesn't continue. Sakura doesn't push anymore. After the day she's had, she's tired. First with Takeshi and then with Reborn and then with Kiyano. All very emotionally charged interactions in very different ways. Her dying will flames, she's found, are especially sensitive to her emotional state. They grow and cycle throughout her body according to her emotions. Sakura, unfortunately, has never been someone with particularly good control over her own emotions. The best she could do to not waste them would be to redirect excess dying will flames into her Byakugou seal. Unfortunately for the day, her reserves are growing low, if she doesn't have a better handle on things soon she'll start coughing out blood again.

Which would just be the icing on her stressful day.

She hopes this appointment would not be too troublesome. But considering Reborn made it, she doesn't have particularly high hopes.

"What are you planning to do with Kiyano?" Reborn interrupts her thoughts.

"Currently?" Sakura tilts her head in confusion, "I don't have any plans besides keeping an eye on him."

"Why don't you punish him then? If it was any different and Yamamoto never plays again, he would have been disgraced and probably quit on his own. Since Yamamoto is a prospective guardian candidate, his arm is healed. That might not happen for anyone else that gets injured."

Sakura raises an eyebrow, "I'm the Student Council President. I'm not really in charge of teacher conduct."

Reborn just looks at her.

Okay so she _could_ think up of a few punishments to hand out but it's not in her job description. She's not here to police the teachers.

Sakura hums in consideration, even though she's still disquieted about the whole Takeshi-mafia ordeal, she likes that Reborn thinks she has that kind of power over Namimori Middle. "I'm a big believer of second chances," she says instead, "As long as he doesn't screw up anymore.. it's fine, isn't it?"

"That kind of attitude will get you betrayed and killed."

Sakura thinks back. She thinks back to emotionally manipulated Obito whose choices ruined so many lives but who tried to do right in the end. She thinks on Gaara whose bloodshed was unquenchable until Naruto turned him around. She thinks on Itachi who murdered his clan to prevent a civil war and still somehow stayed loyal to the bitter end.

She thinks back to so many good people who could've only made bad choices. So many of them just doing what they think is right under their own circumstances.

And those were the exceptional ones—The ones who somehow through all that evil still came out good.

Next to such light, how could mediocre people like her and Kiyano fair?

"As long as you repent and work to fix your mistakes... I don't think that's a waste."

He doesn't say anything more and they walk to Reborn's designated meeting spot in silence.

Sakura doesn't know how to make Reborn understand or if he can even understand.

She remembers a chuunin, in her old life while Naruto was away training. The woman was kind and old, stuck in a desk job. When Sakura became the Hokage's apprentice, that old nice lady was there to help her with her sudden caseload, almost as much as Shizune-senpai. She listened attentively whenever Sakura complained about anything and everything, never making any of Sakura's worries feel insignificant or a waste. She was attentive and she cared about Sakura the person.

But one day, Sakura came around and found out that that kind old lady was gone. Sakura figures out later that she was one of Orochimaru's many sleeper agents—And Sakura couldn't remember how much exactly she told her. Tsunade was harsher on her after that and Sakura couldn't blame her. She herself learnt to tighten her lips. Sakura visited that woman in T&I, where she was barely breathing and littered with wounds. The woman barely looked like how Sakura remembered her. The woman didn't acknowledge Sakura or maybe she was in too much pain to even recognise Sakura's distinctive pink hair. Either way, Sakura's job was to heal her and she completed it without saying a word to the woman.

Tsunade eventually became kinder as her shishou forgave her and moved on. But Sakura never forgave herself. Sakura's lips never loosened again.

Sakura's not afraid of death nor betrayal. No, she knows both personally.

She's afraid of much bigger things.

Later, when they arrive at their designated location, she eyes the man standing before her, unimpressed. He's wearing a white lab coat with a 5 o'clock shadow. His hair is parted in the same way as Hayato's though it is black. He has eye bags but a handsome enough face. It's too bad that his whole demeanour screams pervert. It's in his eyes and the grin. He wouldn't be able to hide he likes women if his life was on the line.

"Why hello, young lady." He sidles up to her with a charming smile he no doubts employs on whoever is the most unfortunate.

Sakura won't have any of it. She's seen his type a thousand times before. She doesn't even grace this person with a greeting.

"Who is this?" she asks Reborn. Her face is the most displeased it has ever been.

"This is Doctor Shamal, who also works as an assassin by the name of Trident Shamal. He controls Trident Mosquitos, which altogether carry 666 incurable diseases over to his targets. He will be conducting your medical examination."

"What?" Sakura says more out of protest than surprise. Ever since she laid eyes on Shamal she could guess what the appointment is about. "Why him?"

"He's an acquaintance of mine and is one of the best. He was also present at my birth."

The lecherous look of the man in question doesn't reassure her the least.

Sakura breathes in and then out. She just needs to make it through today. "Fine," she says grudgingly, "But if you touch me even slightly inappropriately, I will retaliate. I will know if you stray even a little."

His returning grin infuriates her.

The next few minutes went tensely where Shamal proceeds to conduct a basic examination of her facilities under her glare. She assumes he found them all to be in perfect working order, jotting down notes as he goes, with every other moment being that he further invades her personal space in the guise of a medical check-up. She allows it if only because she wants to see the clipboard which he deliberately keeps out of her line of sight.

Finally, Shamal pronounces, "What's the problem, Reborn? She's pretty healthy here." The clipboard comes into her line of sight and she sneaks a glance at it. At the same moment, she feels a hand straying.

How dare he!?

Before she's fully aware of what she has done, Shamal has flown through 2 walls, crashing into some other room. It's the combination of her stressful day and her previous confrontations with Reborn that causes her to push too far. She feels blood run down her nose but has the presence of mind to know the basic level of flames necessary to survive within the body.

Her eyes catch on the tiny floating black debris—no, mosquito and all the air leaves her like a punch in the gut.

It's the feeling of being completely duped rather than her emotional exhaustion that causes her to stagger backwards and lean on the medical bed.

It comes to her like lightning as her eyes track the mosquito flying through the opening she made with trepidation. Who is she kidding? Shamal can kill her before she even moves—before she's even _aware._ One of the best Reborn called him and it's true, she wouldn't have even noticed that mosquito at any other moment. She wouldn't have thought anything of it at any other moment.

Both of them are trained assassins. Both of them are one of the best if not the best in their respective fields. Sakura has been outclassed the very moment she stepped into his makeshift examination.

Every fact just pisses her off more.

"Interesting," Shamal says, stepping through the crumbling wall unharmed and unconcerned about property damage. He brushes off her attack more easily than he would a fly.

"What is it, Shamal?" Reborn asks. He does not let any emotion show on his face but everyone in this room knew that this was the reason he called Shamal in.

Shamal scratches his chin. "She's just exhausting her dying will flames? It happens, theoretically, but it does not usually take so little..." They talk above her, unconcerned and uncaring about her presence.

Anger simmers within her that she manages to control. To Sakura, none of this is new news. She knows exactly what is going on within her body. "Whatever. I'm leaving," Sakura says, grabbing her bag. Any longer here and she'll do something she would regret. "I don't want to be anywhere near this pervert." She leaves without waiting for an answer.

The sun is out, unfairly bright, at odds with her shoes that stomp their way home. The light breeze picks up and Sakura tries to focus on that to save her shoes from an early demise. Ever since Reborn came, her mood swings are atrocious. Her calm façade of the past is shot and shredded to tatters. Every day, she's interacting with more people and it seems as if they care but she does not want them. She does not want simple bonds.

She wants friendships to die for.

She wants a reason to live and lay her life down for.

She cannot stay and hear their opinions on the future—On what is no doubt a big wrench in Reborn's 'Best Vongola Boss Ever' plans.

It is enough that she knows.

It is _enough_.

..

* * *

..

It is a good thing that walking home helps ease her feelings some for it doesn't take long before Reborn catches up to her. He flies in on a green hand-glider, easily making the difference in distance, "You weren't surprised." His eyes instruct her to stop.

She does not.

"No."

"Don't you care about your health?" he asks, easily keeping up with her stride.

"I'm fine," Sakura says as if for the millionth time, she wonders if he even listened the first time. "It's just an adjusting period for me. These flames... They're new or at least new right now. I just need time," she implores him to understand, "...I don't need your pity, Reborn."

"Good," Reborn says simply, "you don't have it." Sakura blinks, momentarily thrown. "This changes nothing. If I can't handle such a small matter, I wouldn't be called in to be your teacher, would I?" His black eyes are honest in this matter.

Sakura smiles, unwittingly. "And here I thought you were only hired because you bullied someone for the job."

Sakura laughs when she hears the click of Reborn's gun. She had to stop laughing mid-way through her run. She is no Lee after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Let me give you your new favourite chapter. If you don't review this chapter, when are you going to review? (No, but to be real this is the best chapter I've written right?)
> 
> 2\. Dinner was a wholesome affair where everyone was on their very best behaviour. You can probs imagine it better than I can write it. I tried outlining it but it was fluff that didn't fit the chapter's theme. Remember, plot>fluff. Every scene serves a purpose.
> 
> 3\. I reread the early Yamamoto & Gokudera interaction & never noticed how much of a little shit Takeshi is? & I love him more for it? For real tho, you guys should reread the manga with me, it's hilarious. They have this one-upping competition over who is closest to Tsuna & Tsuna just thinks they are getting along surprisingly well? It's so cute.
> 
> 4\. I'm so bummed I can't even mention Shisui. It sucks when your favourite Uchiha is so dead he couldn't even come back as the undead. It sucks for your crack pairing.
> 
> 5\. Omygod, it just occurred to me that Reborn wasn't technically lying about the birth thing. Cause he got Shamal to erase his memories to start anew so he is reborn, get it? That took years to connect I'm sorry.
> 
> 6\. I think a lot of sakura stories, she gets it right from the get-go or she takes on a lot of stuff and suddenly becomes better due to it. And its either through hard work (of like 2 weeks) or she's secretly a genius but nobody noticed. And yeah, I guess that could happen but that's not really how improvement happens for me. Sakura should be allowed to make plot-changing big mistakes and smaller mistakes which affects almost nobody. Life is very messy and I want to show it. So that's what that one old lady chuunin taught Sakura. Sakura doesn't know even know if any of the information she told that woman reached Orochimaru and if it did if it was even useful. This eats away enough that she learned better.
> 
> 7\. Me, not knowing what I'm talking about: Shamal conducts a basic examination of her facilities. ((What? Research? If you wanted research you can read some heavy Tolkien fanfics. I know I do.))
> 
> 8\. Ah, here is what Sakura looks like in case you have trouble imagining her? Sorry it took forever?
> 
> 9\. Does Sakura have the power to remove someone from a club? I think yeah if she can bullshit her reasons to the principal or Kyoya.
> 
> 10\. I did update the earlier chaps with a better pacing(?). Dunno. if you ever read it, tell me if you actually notice a difference because that was tiring.


	9. In The Face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's just been one of those low-energy moody days. So have the chapter a few hours early, dunno if I want to wait till midnight anyways. I hope this gives you even a little happiness. Love every one of you. Take care of yourself.

Sakura stares blankly at the test in her hands.

89%.

Nothing has ever mocked her more.

Her heart aches almost physically. This is the lowest she can remember ever getting on a paper test.

It pains her even more when she spies Hayato's paper, his 100% taunts her, filling her with an envy that sits sour on her tongue.

As if he could sense her thinking of him, Hayato slides the classroom door with unnecessary force. He strides into class late as if he owns the place, even though he sent her to school early this morning. He was probably taking his smoke break on the roof or behind the school or somewhere discreet enough to not be found. He says he cares not for Nezu's class and Sakura couldn't blame him.

"Ah, Gokudera, I see you've finally graced us with your presence." Nezu sneers. Hatred burns in Nezu's eyes and Hayato returns it with an unimpressed glower, not bothering to comment. Nezu dislikes even this little bit of disobedience, saying, "Hypothetically class, if a delinquent manages to get 100% on a test without even bothering to show up to class on time, it's not rocket science to assume he's cheating, isn't it?"

Hayato says nothing as he snatches his paper before proceeding to plop down at his desk, kicking his legs on the table.

Nezu's fury boils over at the blatant disrespect. Hayato cares not though, as he's no longer paying any attention to the teacher. Understanding this, Nezu's eyes slide to her and victory shines through. This greatly confuses Sakura.

"Hypothetically.." His lips tug up already, caught on the punchline without ever telling the joke, "If a new delinquent transfers in and hangs around the highest scoring student of the grade.. And then that previously scoring student slips in grades, it's only logical to assume the cause to be the presence of the new delinquent, isn't it?"

Hayato's infuriated growl reverberates across the pin-drop silent class. He swings his legs back down with a loud smack, muscles tensing for a fight. Sakura's hand snatch Hayato's arm in a bid to stop him.

It does.

His eyes look to her for clues on how to act and she just shakes her head, projecting an uncaring attitude for Hayato's sake.

Nezu is always an asshole. It's not a big deal. Usually, he wouldn't even be able to say a negative thing about her.

_But usually, she doesn't get eighty—fucking—nine per cent._

Nezu watches them, glee written clear on his face. He's delighted at this opportunity, not bothering to hide his smirk at all.

Sakura knows Nezu's game. He wants a reaction from either of them, Hayato especially. With Hayato's attitude and general stormy disposition, it would only be too easy to suspend him. He's already broken into a teacher's house and comes tardy to class as he pleases.

It's too bad for Nezu that Sakura is here. She won't let him have his way.

"And in this hypothetical scenario, class," he addresses the class but his eyes do not leave Hayato, daring the teenager, "if the previously highest scoring student continued on _her_ trajectory by associating with gangsters.. well.." he pretends to think about it, "It needs not saying what kind of life she'll fall into, hmm?"

"You piece of—!" But Sakura's borderline painful squeeze stops him. Inside, Sakura burns at the slight but outside, her grip on Hayato's arm stays iron tight. She knows it's the only reason he's not flying off the rails in 5 levels of fury.

"What was that, Gokudera? Do you have something to say?"

For a second, she thinks Hayato will spit in Nezu's direction but all he says is, "No."

Nezu turns away in contempt, briefly satisfied, though something nefarious brews in his eyes. His eyes flicker to the rest of the papers in his hands and he purposely skips the top few papers for a specific one in the middle. She can recognise the signs of a bad situation turning worse, an alarm ringing in the back of her head.

"On that note, imagine a student who, hypothetically, barely passes basic chemistry... or any other subject." Nezu looks across the room and Sakura's worst expectations are realised when Takeshi eyes widen in his conclusion of being Nezu's next target. "This academically challenged student, hypothetically, comes to school faking a broken arm. Why does he do this?" Nezu doesn't stop to allow anyone to guess.

Even from where she sits she can see the rapid paling of Takeshi's face.

Away from view, she brings to life a small dying will flame.

"One assumes as a pathetic bid at—"

A crash interrupts him.

Nezu ducks belatedly, startled by the loud crashing noise. His reflexes are poor, not even responding when a large object barely misses his head to hit the blackboard behind him, only responding to the loud sound. Nezu investigates, finding a broken table and scattered books, before swinging his head over to the source.

This time, Sakura is the one staring in contempt.

Her desk is missing and her eyes are furious. "Sorry, _sensei,"_ she says and nobody mistakes any sincerity in her voice. She flicks one leg up, the leg she used to kick her table in fact, before crossing it. Her skirt rides up but she doesn't fix it.

He wanted gangster behaviour, right?

She'll show him gangster behaviour.

"I guess I don't know my own strength." Sakura tilts her head in consideration. "It might be because of all the bad influences I've been hanging around lately."

His bottom lip is trembling from mortification. His face is quickly turning red in anger. Not caring to hear him shout, Sakura narrows a glare at him. His face pales and he freezes like a doe in headlights.

_That's better._

If she is kinder she might have let him say a few last words.

But Sakura's patience is long over.

"It'll be too bad," Sakura starts. Nezu swallows and his breathing picks up. "If a certain science teacher, who hypothetically speaking, is unable to continue working in this school due to...hm? Let's say.. _Mysterious circumstances_."

She doesn't need to leak bloodlust or killing intent. He's already shaking from the force of her controlled anger.

"Wouldn't that be such a shame, _sensei_?"

An alarm rings through the school, loud and clear, unusual in its pattern. The other students startle out of the atmosphere but Sakura doesn't remove her gaze from Nezu's apprehensive gaze.

There's a trick to making sure someone doesn't dare break eye contact.

It's very simple.

Nezu can't look away because something deep inside him—his meagre survival instincts—are telling him something. It's telling him Sakura is the danger he can't take his eyes off.

She is the one who will strike when blood is scented in the water.

"Oh, would you hear that, _sensei_? It's the fire alarm. We should evacuate."

It is only then that everyone takes it as permission to move. After her words, Hayato is the first out of his seat, taking it as his duty to start ushering the students outside class into neat lines. After shaking out of her shock, Kyoko stands as the Class Representative, to give her support in corralling the students. Meanwhile, the other Class Representative, Osamu, doesn't help and is one of the first boys to line up, waiting to head to the nearest evacuation point.

It's only when Sakura feels the last of her classmates are out of the classroom that she breaks her gaze with the now greatly shaking chemistry teacher.

It's a bit unfair how very easy it is to strike fear in someone like Nezu.

But then, he should've known better than to test her.

The moment Sakura turns her back to him to leave the classroom, Nezu's knees give out as he collapses onto the floor. Sakura ignores this, even when she can clearly hear his gasping breaths.

It is truly pathetic—he did not even wait until she's cleared the room.

Hayato and Kyoko are waiting patiently at the front of the lines. Kyoko makes space so Sakura can line up before her. The class is quiet and obedient even amidst the continued fire alarm. Sakura counts to 20 before signalling to Hayato to fetch Nezu.

Nezu stumbles over quickly after that.

He doesn't say anything when he leads them to the evacuation field, where the other classes are already waiting, proceeding to ditch them at the earliest opportunity to huddle in false safety with a group of teachers. Sakura tracks his every movement, before turning to Hayato. Their other classmates give her a wide berth, even airheaded Kyoko and rational Hana.

She doesn't have time to deal with that.

"I want the rest of his classes for the day to be interrupted. Not a single one happens, do you understand me?"

Hayato only smirks. "Yes, Jyuudaime," he promises.

"What are we talking about?" a voice interrupts.

Sakura glances at Takeshi who has left the boys. He's uncomfortable as his hand rubs the back of his neck.

Sakura smiles, reassuringly. "It's nothing to worry about."

But that only causes Takeshi's smile to strain. There's a look in his eyes that she doesn't like.

She concedes, "We are sabotaging Nezu's career." Her tone conveys her seriousness.

He wants honesty?

That's fine.

It burns her to admit Reborn was (at least a little) right. Takeshi should know what he's getting into before deciding to get any closer.

Kyoya rules Namimori Middle in fear while Sakura makes it a point not to. She's the one students and teachers come to to hide from the brutality of Kyoya's actions. Cool, calm and level-headed, that is what everyone expects.

But she's already shaken a lot of the class's expectations in the last hour with the depth of her anger overtaking her.

One more person makes no difference to her.

Sakura expects Takeshi to be wary and step back. She expects him to make a joke or make excuses. She expects him to return to the rest of the class.

Takeshi doesn't do any of those things.

Instead, he laughs, his arm returning to his sides. "How can I help?" he asks, simply.

Sakura blinks once, twice, before smiling.

This time, the smile that she sends him is vicious.

..

* * *

..

Chemistry is long over by the time everyone is cleared to head back inside.

Barely anyone notices the burn mark on their class ceiling.

..

* * *

..

Sakura walks through the hallways, uninterrupted. Students scuttle to flee her path, some of them with memories of her glare fresh in their minds, others with more important things in their minds.

But every movement she makes, every step she takes, gossip fills her ears. Every snippet from a different set of students discussing only the latest of Namimori Middle.

"Did you hear? That Nezu went too far this time!"

"Takeshi-kun sounded so sad. He apologised and everything, you know? I think there were tears in his eyes!!"

"Yeah, they saw him with the entire baseball team. He was bowing and he was so serious!"

"I don't blame him. Apparently, the doctor said he won't play ever again."

"Nezu's a real shithead. He does this to everyone. That fucker gets a kick out of torturing us."

"Imagine what would happen if Yamamoto didn't see that second doctor?? Like what kind of idiot doctor messes up that badly."

Sakura pretends obliviousness as she strides towards her destination.

Nezu is the only first-year chemistry teacher Namimori Middle has. The story is he graduated from the elite Tokyo university, coming back to teach at Namimori Middle where he once learnt at as a retirement job—And he likes to constantly remind everyone how much of a _favour_ he's doing them and just how _elite_ his credentials are. His unique brand of teaching is notorious. Everyone, from seniors to new students, has experienced some form of it, whether in chemistry classes or as a substitute teacher. They might not have personally experienced the bullying (as that's saved for the poorly scoring students) but _every student_ has witnessed his 'hypothetical' situations.

And it seems that everyone has their own opinions to say.

 _Perfect_.

When Sakura arrives at Kyoya's 'office', she enters without bothering to knock. He doesn't glance up, too busy with something or other on the forms in front of him.

He knows it's her, though he doesn't acknowledge her.

She wouldn't acknowledge him too but she did come in for a reason.

Leaning casually on the windowsill, she says, "You'll need a spare chemistry teacher ready."

"Oh?" His black eyes finally look at her. While Takeshi's black eyes are warm and inviting, Kyoya's eyes always have a calculating, predatory glint. "Are you finally baring your fangs? Is the other herbivore you've taken under your wing so easy to break?"

Sakura sneers. "I'm showing my _claws_."

..

* * *

..

"Takeshi, why are we here?" Sakura says though it's too late to complain as Takeshi is already dragging her into TakeSushi, his father's restaurant.

Straight after school, Takeshi slings an arm around her shoulders and proceeds to steer her away from school. Hayato follows, keeping his grumbling and glaring to a minimum, though he looks ready to burst from Takeshi's casual display of disrespect.

It is out of the kindness of her heart that she doesn't mention how he's skipping his 'punishment' for breaking the rules.

Sitting all three of them at a booth at the back, Takeshi says, "We need to talk game plan!"

Hayato is, for once, on the same page and in complete agreement. "How we going to do this, Jyuudaime?"

"Are you going to kill him?"

Sakura turns to the mysterious third voice only to find Reborn already present on the table. He's in an elaborate (and probably accurate) traditional ronin attire. He's comfortably digging into a full sushi platter of eel and tuna with a meal set on top of that.

Sakura stares.

One, what is with that getup? Two, _is that the expensive meat_?

"Reborn-san!"

"Whoa, kid! When did you get here?"

Hayato quickly shakes off his surprise, seeing as he has more experience than Takeshi with Reborn's random appearances, taking Reborn's statement in stride, "We can hide his body in the school grounds."

Though Hayato is 100% serious, Takeshi takes it as a joke. "What if he comes back as a ghost?"

"Even better," Hayato states, "Then we can exorcise him. I'll bring my exorcism kit."

"What?" Sakura finally says, instead of anything better. Since when did Hayato know how to exorcise a ghost? Wait the better question is _how_ did he learn how to exorcise a ghost?

How did she lose track of this conversation so fast?

"What is this I hear about exorcism and killing? Only the foolish messes with the supernatural," another voice interrupts. Sakura recognises the familiar visage of the elder Yamamoto. He brings to their table a plate of sushi and enough green tea for everybody, though they haven't ordered anything.

Takeshi beams, digging into the food. "There's this teacher and he's horrible! We have a plan to get him fired!"

Hayato follows his example and eats the food in front of him. Reborn, though he already has his own, also takes some. Takeshi singles some out, snapping his chopsticks at Hayato's when he gets too close. Hayato snarls.

"The science one?"

"Yeah, that one," Takeshi confirms, pushing the singled out sushi in her direction. Hayato seeing this drops his scowl and begins to add to this pile.

Sakura doesn't know whether to be exasperated or embarrassed, as all this occurs under the careful eye of Yamamoto-san.

"Sakura was so cool, oyaji! She went all 'WAM—WOOSH' and Nezu went 'EEEE!' like a pig, and the class was 'hoooo', you know?"

Hayato mutters a, "What the fuck" and Sakura agrees. She was there during this scenario—she was a key figure—and still, she barely discerns what the heck Takeshi is talking about.

Yamamoto-san doesn't even blink. "Why did she do that?"

Finally understanding how this is a very bad first impression, Sakura quickly interjects to explain the situation, "Nezu was picking on the students! He was really rude and insensitive and I couldn't help it, I have a little bit of a temper—"

"Jyuudaime showed him who's boss! That bastard had it coming, Him and his 'hypothetical' situations." Hayato scoffs.

Takeshi scratches his head. "Ahh, we got our chemistry test marks back today.."

To his credit, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi keeps up with their disjointed explanation just fine.

"I see... A quick death is too good for a guy like that. I will lend you my blade."

Takeshi cheers.

So did the men grouped on the table beside them, who overhead some parts of the conversation.

This is getting out of control. " _Whoa_ , guys, stop. Nobody is going to die."

Someone help her, all four of them looked depressingly disappointed.

 _Especially_ Takeshi and his dad.

"Are we getting Hibari-senpai to fire him then?" Takeshi asks, leaning forward, eyes glinting. Hayato copies him.

She raises an eyebrow. "And owe Kyoya? No thanks."

"What are you going to do?" Reborn asks.

"Nothing." Sakura finally takes a piece of sushi and pops it into her mouth. They wait patiently, nerves shaking in excitement until she finishes. "During the fire alarm, I had someone looking into Nezu's background. My acquaintance found falsified documents." She points with her chopsticks in the 'other' direction, this just so happens to be at Takeshi. "He faked his degree. Also faked a lot of other important qualifications. One copy for the principal." Sakura counts them on her fingers, "One for Kyoya. Finally, one for every member of the Parent-Teacher Association... Nezu will never work as a teacher again."

Yamamoto-san leans back, smiling. "Well, these are on the house then!" He then leaves to serve the other customers, customers like the eavesdropping men.

"Where'd you meet this acquaintance?" Reborn asks, interrupting her eating.

"Oh? You know those Italian language lessons you're giving? I thought I should practice more so I went online and found this guy, who is a computer genius. He's interested in learning Japanese so we trade back and forth."

Sakura startles when Hayato slams a hand on the table. "How can you trust someone like this...Mystery person!? Why didn't you ask me??"

The thing is Sakura hasn't known Hayato for very long, it hasn't even been a month yet after all. She's slowly learning more things about him, accumulating facts like his knowledge of exorcism, his book-smart capabilities, and overprotective tendencies, which are only the tip of the iceberg for a character such as Hayato.

But seeing the genuine hurt in his eyes—hurt she's unthinkingly caused him—Sakura realises she's misstepped.

She miscalculated how sensitive Hayato is.

His sea-green eyes tell her that every action of hers is a reflection of him. If she didn't ask him, it's _his fault_.

He's a ball of insecurity walking around in skull necklaces and a variety of wristbands.

Why did she never notice?

Sakura has long understood that everyone needs to be needed. But Hayato...

Hayato needs to be needed _by her_.

"Oh.." Sakura says dumbly.

She might not have said anything else if a stinging pain didn't bring her out of her head. "OW—" Clutching her hurt hand, Sakura briefly shoots a glare at Reborn's innocent facade. He ignores her by starting in on her pile of food.

Refocusing on Hayato, she says with a deceptive calmness, "But you're busy with your part-time job, right? I didn't want to bother you..."

"No amount of work would prevent me from helping you," he says sincerely.

Sakura squeezes his hand. "You already help me plenty, Gokudera-kun."

There's something about Hayato's expression that's heartbreakingly familiar.

He doesn't believe her.

..

* * *

..

"It's fine. This meal is on the house!" Yamamoto-san is jovial even when arguing over the cash register. Takeshi and Hayato sit back at the booth arguing about something or another. Sakura left them to it.

"I couldn't possibly.."

"After everything you've done for my boy? This is the least I could do."

Sakura smiles, understandingly, "Alright, but just this once."

"You're a tough one!" Yamamoto-san's laugh lifts her mood. It's easy to see where Takeshi gained his charismatic nature. "Tell me, is that ronin with you?"

Sakura sighs, exasperated. "Yes, unfortunately." Her eyes narrow in suspicion. "...Why?"

Sakura quickly scans the restaurant and sure enough, her top assassin home-tutor is gone.

A sinking feeling occurs. She knows where this is going

Tsuyoshi chuckles weakly, "Don't worry about it. If he's with you, he's on the house too!"

Sakura groans before she could stop herself.

_That bastard left her with the bill!_

Sakura thinks about everything that leads her to this point and regrets. She wants desperately to accept his offer and sweep this all under the rug.

But she can't do that to Takeshi's family.

Everything Reborn ordered was the expensive stuff after all.

He knew it would come to this so he high-tailed it out of here. She doesn't know what it is about being rich that makes one so cheap. If he can afford his weapons, suits, and various cosplay outfits, he can handle one measly restaurant bill.

Sakura straightens, lifting her chin with responsibility. She has flashbacks to Tsunade's drinking habits and Kakashi's tab leaving habits. It seems even here she can't run from cleaning up after her teachers. "I'll cover his share."

"No, that's okay."

"Why don't we negotiate? I'll pay whichever share is more."

His mouth twitches up and she knows he's considering it. "Whichever costs less. And you take dessert back with you."

Sakura smiles. "Deal." It's not at all a fair deal but she'll pay fully next time. Yamamoto-san can win this once.

Yamamoto-san gets to work ringing her up and she's careful to make sure he doesn't conveniently forget any meals before paying him. He then takes her to the back where the desserts are kept and allows Sakura to peruse the desserts in comfortable silence. Yamamoto-san lets her be as he prepares other orders to go.

"Do you see anything you like?" he asks when she stops to admire some dango. There are a few flavours and she vows to eventually try all of them. "If you can't decide, you'll have to take back the whole lot!"

Sakura laughs, pondering between eating an old favourite or trying a new flavour. She has a feeling she'll be coming back often.

"There was an interesting offer the other day," he says. She absentmindedly hums in a questioning tone back, imploring him to go on.

Weirdly, this sounds familiar.

"A mafia invitation."

Sakura's head snaps to Tsuyoshi's figure. The man doesn't look at her, though her reaction is all he needs to confirm any suspicion. He holds the sushi knife with expert hands. There's a grace to his calm movements that she knows didn't just come from running a sushi restaurant.

He's still, undoubtedly, a man in his prime.

"I like you, Sakura-chan. A lot more than Takeshi's usual crowd. You seem like a sweet girl and I can never repay what you did that day.." Tsuyoshi slices a fish to serve, knife glinting in the light. "But no parent wants such a path for their child." He puts away his tools and looks her in the eye for the first time since dropping such a bomb.

Sakura straightens. "I want Takeshi safe and happy. That's all I want from him." Tsuyoshi's eyes are similar to his son's but it has an intensity that Takeshi hasn't yet gained.

"I won't let him follow me into hell. I promise."

His face doesn't change but Sakura gets the feeling that he thinks her very naive. Tsuyoshi smiles ruefully, "You don't know how stubborn Takeshi can be."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Sakura, later once she returns to class: 'Damnn, are my books okay???' Hayato would have given his textbooks but he doesn't believe in the system, also he flat broke right now. They ended up borrowing books from the library. Btw, she had to grab a new desk as the one she kicked was broken & dented. There was also a blackboard dent. It was a pain for the other teachers to write around but when asked the students refused to give a straight answer. The blackboard was replaced the next day.
> 
> 2\. The thing about Tsuna is that he adores every single positive interaction in his friends. He's constantly scared of Hayato but he wouldn't not consider him a friend. But he's also never had friends so unless they drag him into things, he lets them be. That's why everyone just kind of barge into his house like they own it. Tsuna lets Hayato only lean on him, he lets Takeshi stay and annoy Hayato, he lets Haru do her own Haru things. The boys eventually have to hash out their own problems in the middle of a life & death situation. Haru learns that she needs to butt in to be included, which Kyoko is too polite to do. There's a reason it's always Reborn inviting them to activities. Tsuna doesn't know what to do with them.
> 
> 3\. Sakura's shishou is Senju Tsunade and she's not afraid of throwing things at people.
> 
> 4\. Prev chap Sakura: I'm not here to police teachers.
> 
> This chap Sakura: That was a lie.
> 
> 5\. I wanted to show the double standards of school. They work for Takeshi & against Gokudera. I'm not sure how clear I made it. Also, that trick with the eye contact? I made it up. Don't go around scaring people.
> 
> 6\. What did Gokudera do to make sure he doesn't have any more classes? If it was anyplace else, I would say vandalise/blow up his car. But since I don't know if anyone drives to school... You can only imagine smt else.
> 
> 7\. Maybe Leon bit Sakura. Do chameleons bite people? Is that the right question to be asking when Leon is the one & only shapeshifting chameleon? (Do you think he can shapeshift into another animal?)
> 
> 8\. Reborn, later when he & Sakura walking home: 'You wouldn't have to replace your books if you used your kunai.'
> 
> Sakura: *surprised pikachu face*
> 
> 9\. Slowly, this story will venture into AU territory. It's a different dimension (it's fine they'll be clues probs). It's because we have to incorporate the future arc somehow. Am I doing that arc? Probs not. Canon was like when Tsuna beat Byakuran that one time causing a domino effect in the other dimensions & you know what that's good enough for me. (Does that mean we'll never see any of the future arc characters?? Nah man, Iris Hepburn is a guardian candidate. (Don't quote me on that; the guardians are still not finalised; also don't quote me on if she'll appear I still need to reread that part of the manga))
> 
> 10\. This is all in Australian English. 'per cent' is, in fact, correct as it is. (It's so weird I know & I hear you.)


	10. A History

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might change this chap later, it's been hectic first week of uni & all, I barely got this done so this is technically first draft. We'll see what the betas think.

Sakura tilts her head in wonder.

Lazing around the coffee pot early this morning is a green chameleon. It blinks at her.

"Oh, hello. Aren't you adorable?"

It flicks it's tongue at her and blinks again.

Somehow she understands this.

"I'm sorry. I meant handsome. You are very handsome." The little guy purrs like a cat when she rubs the underside of his chin. She's not sure what sounds chameleons are supposed to make but she's pretty sure it's not a purr.

Though it's still not the weirdest thing she's ever seen—She might leave that to Pakkun, the first talking animal she met, who also who used the same shampoo as her.

It only feels slightly pathetic when she's disappointed she couldn't find a smell quite like Floral Green in the department store.

Currently, she uses one with a cherry blossom motif. It's really cheesy but— _Who cares?_

Sakura misses her old life so much some days, even everything that used to anger her. To experience everything even once more...

She shakes the thought away, she needs to move forward.

Crouching to be more eye-level with him, she asks, "What do you want, little fella? Coffee?"

The chameleon proceeds to transforms into a coffee mug.

She stares uncomprehendingly. "...What the hell?"

There are eyes on the side of the mug. It blinks at her.

It's also green.

"Ah... Is that a yes?" She takes it as a yes.

She moves to grab the instant coffee but the chameleon has other ideas. He pukes up a jar of coffee beans, surprisingly slime free. Examining the jar, she immediately whistles. "This is _fancy._ It probably costs more than everything in my room..." she muses.

"It's Reborn's, isn't it?"

The chameleon flicks his tongue in agreement.

After that, the chameleon leads her into making coffee for the three of them by changing forms into precise tools and measurements. The chameleon doesn't talk but he's a surprisingly good teacher. He's adamant on three cups, though Sakura knows she's signed her own death warrant for touching Reborn's coffee. She's also pretty sure chameleons don't drink coffee. They eat bugs or something, right..?

Point is neither of them are suppose to be drinking this coffee.

She's pretty sure this would be the reason Reborn decides to finally kill her.

But... She hasn't lived this long playing safe.

Considering she's died once and almost died a considerable amount of other times, she knows her logic is unsound.

Maybe she should rethink her actions..?

Whatever.

She is adamant to try this coffee—Even if it leads her to run around the neighbourhood in her underwear. Anyone who has any sense knows better than to get in between a medical personal and their coffee.

When she finally has three steaming cups of wonderfully smelling expresso, Reborn has deigned to come into the kitchen. Her window of opportunity of coming out unscathed shuts.

It also almost entirely eliminates her chances of trying the coffee she made.

"I see you've met my partner, Leon. He's finally stopped hiding." Reborn takes a cup and sits at the dining table like normal.

Sakura doesn't let down her guard. She might have her shinobi weapons but he too has guns on his person. If it came down to it, he'll reach his faster than she would. They both know where the kitchen knives are located and Leon... would take his side now that she thinks of it.

Damn, she really wanted to try the coffee.

"He doesn't like strangers," Reborn continues, ignoring her assessment of her chances of living.

Hint: it's still zero.

Sakura blinks waiting for more but he doesn't say anything about the other two cups of coffee—or specifically hers.

"Well, that's normal, isn't it?" Sakura says, busying herself with pulling a frying pan out of the cupboard. "Do you prefer pancakes or french toast? I was thinking about cooking something simple for breakfast." She cracks two eggs into a bowl before mixing in some milk from the fridge. Either way, both recipes have similar ingredients.

"Pancakes."

Sakura grabs the rest of the ingredients, her chatter covering her nerves, "Kaa-san is out now, there's a special offer at the farmer's market across town. She'll be back in an hour or two. She rarely takes too long but until then we'll have to fend for ourselves."

Making breakfast is quick work and Sakura tries not to fiddle with the handle.

A peek over her shoulder shows both Reborn and Leon drinking their coffee without care.

Her cup sits full, untouched, calling out to her.

She doesn't dare take a sip.

Reborn is content to ignore it but Sakura is not. "Leon wanted coffee." Tsunade didn't teach cowards so Sakura forges on, "I'm sorry. He was very picky about the coffee beans."

Reborn only sips his cup of expresso. For the first time since she's known him, he doesn't check it for poison. "It's acceptable. Drink before it gets cold. Wasting good coffee is the ultimate sin."

Sakura's smile is a mix of relief and anticipation, relaxing completely for the first time that morning. Taking a sip of her coffee, she melts.

Damn, she's ruined forever now.

"Today, we'll be working on your speed and reaction time." Sakura plates up two pancakes each for the three of them. Leon flicks a tongue in gratitude. She rubs a finger down his head before grabbing utensils.

"Leon likes you," Reborn observes.

Sakura hums. "I like him too." She takes savouring sips of her expresso before digging into her meal. Reborn has already half-finished his cup. She wants to do the same but Sakura knows she'll never get another cup of this. "Do you mind if I invite Gokudera-kun? I want to check if he's been working on his speed."

"What about Yamamoto?"

"What about Takeshi? I'm sure he's busy helping his dad or something. Oh yeah, Kaa-san has piano recital later so she'll probably cook dinner early in case that runs late." Leon is the first of them to finish, entirely cleaning off his plate. "Where did you get him? I want one."

"The pet shop."

Sakura raises an eyebrow. Reborn doesn't expand anymore.

"Does he talk?"

"No. He can morph into anything he has seen before in his own size."

"Why is he green? I thought chameleons change colours."

"He likes being green."

"And he's not a robot?" Sakura asks, to be sure.

"He's a chameleon."

"...Are you sure?"

..

* * *

..

"Gokudera-kun, L-Lentamente! Non capisco..."

But Hayato either cannot hear her or too busy going on a tangent, he keeps babbling Italian while flinging bombs at her.

_Damn it._

There's a test when all this is over and at this rate, she'll fail. She can barely hear herself think over the sounds of explosions and gunfire, much less hearing Hayato's quick babble and then translating that to something she could understand.

She's pretty sure he's talking about the Italian prime minister? _Maybe..?_

She doesn't know how he got on this topic. All she asked was how was his day.

She planned to ask how speed training was going (if he was doing any) but it very quickly derailed from anything her limited knowledge of Italian could comprehend.

Sakura ducks when more bullets are shot at her. She doesn't understand why _she's_ always the target. Surely there are other ways to train.

Those two mafioso are having too much fun trying to kill her.

Sensing a trap under her being activated, she rolls out.

Unfortunately into incoming bullets.

You think Reborn could have warned her that he already booby-trapped the whole area.

It's only polite— _He's already shooting at her!_

The activity abruptly ends. No more bombs nor bullets. Just the hazy cloud of smoke, dirt and dust.

It's got to be a trap.

"You've failed to dodge a bullet to the shoulder, mid-drift and thigh. By now, combined with your previous sustained injuries, even if you could move through the pain, you would've bled out. You have died, Sakura." Reborn's voice rings clear, cutting through her doubts and ending training effectively.

Sakura flops on her back, groaning.

Her muscles ache and she can feel the bruises forming on her skin. She only allows herself a brief reprieve before getting up to stretch, hating every movement of it.

It doesn't matter what she thinks now. It's simply not worth the pain later.

"You lasted 5% longer than last week. Though your reaction time and speed went down around the same. This is probably due to the incorporation of the Italian language. Compared to last week, you were hit with 5 more bullets."

"You did great, Jyuudaime!"

Reborn ignores Hayato. "What was the last point Gokudera said?"

"Ah..." Sakura searches her mind desperately. "The longest-serving Italian prime minister was almost... 15 years?"

"Wrong."

Sakura doesn't have the energy nor skill to dodge Reborn's subsequent attack. Once more, she is on her back groaning in pain. She doesn't get up this time.

"It was almost 21 years. Besides, Gokudera wasn't talking about that. Don't project your wrong information onto other people's words. Assumptions like that can lead to misunderstanding which can have disastrous consequences."

That's true but— _What was Hayato talking about then?_

"You should have paid better attention," Reborn says.

She closes her eyes, giving up.

Sometimes Reborn is impossible.

"It's okay, Jyuudaime. I can explain—"

But Sakura's tunes him out, sensing another figure heading over to their area. She might not be able to sense chakra or dying will flames but she'll always know when there are unexpected eyes on her person.

One didn't go through hell without a feel for such things after all.

Turning her head, she sees a familiar figure jogging closer.

"Takeshi!" Sakura sits upright, a nervousness entering her limbs.

She ignores Hayato's not so quiet 'tch'. Even from a distance, she can see the athletic boy's wide smile. His outfit is casual, suiting the spring season they are in.

"Yo!"

"What are you doing here?"

"The kid told me to come." _Of course, he did_.

Meddlesome brat.

Takeshi scratches his chin. "..Though I didn't know you guys were already busy hanging out..." Takeshi is a very expressive person. But his eyes are the ones that speak most honestly. Currently, there's a fragile quality to them that Sakura doesn't like.

"It's Vongola training," she explains quickly, "I'm aching _everywhere_. It's not fun—you didn't miss out on anything."

But his eyes don't lighten up and so instead Sakura distracts him by throwing her water bottle at him.

And if her throw is a little desperate, Takeshi still catches it expertly.

"Do you want to join my morning run?" she offers instead. "You can if you want, though Reborn likes to use me to practise his shooting and once there were vicious dogs..."

"Haha, sure, sounds like fun!" He offers her a hand up, eyes shining, and she takes it.

Sakura sighs. "You'll regret that later. I'm not exaggerating when I say its training from hell." Sakura pops her back. It's a satisfying bad habit, one of the more harmless ones. Her clothes stick to her body with sweat. Her body is uncomfortably warm but soon she'll feel the cold. "I want a shower. I stink. Let's hang out at my house, okay? Kaa-san should be home already and she loves having company."

She shoos the company to her house and they follow easily enough. She leaves Takeshi with Nana in the kitchen as she speeds through her shower, knowing neither Reborn nor Hayato would bring mafia as a subject of interest in front of her sweet clueless mother.

Surprisingly, when she returns, it's not to an argument. She watches as her mother bustles around doting and chattering with the boys. Hayato doesn't scowl in Nana's presence, eager to please. Takeshi laughs freely, a naturally friendly person. Even Reborn is subdued in his usual outlandish mannerisms with Leon sitting on the brim of his fedora.

It's really cute how all of them are on their best behaviour.

"Sa-chan, right on time! I need to get ready for piano recital," Nana says before bouncing away upstairs.

Sakura too drags the boys upstairs to Reborn and her's shared room. It's more comfortable than the living room and it's clean. Nana probably wouldn't care.

Well... She would say if she did.

Sitting them down she notices Hayato's sickly complexion. "Are you okay, Gokudera-kun?" Placing her hand on his forehead yields no answers.

His face pinks but he waves her off. "I'm fine."

"So this is your room," Takeshi pronounces, sitting on the ground leaning against her bed. "It looks nice." She sees him take in her study desk, bookshelf and bed. She shrugs. "What's that?" He points over to the hammock hanging in the corner.

"That's where Reborn sleeps."

"It's a pretty cool bed."

"You know what else is cool?" Reborn interjects. "The mafia."

Sakura chokes on air, barely hearing Takeshi agreeing blindly.

Calming herself quickly, she needs to divert what could be a catastrophic conversation. "I FEEL SICK."

"Jyuudaime!?"

"Yes—So bad. I might fail all my classes bad." Hayato is alarmed and Takeshi is confused but Sakura's sight is on Reborn.

Reborn's eyes narrow dangerously.

"You won't fail your classes," Reborn refutes.

_Try her. She will sleep through all her tests if he continues speaking about the mafia._

Reborn's mood blackens his surroundings. A frisson of fear straightens her spine in response. Her home tutor does not handle being threatened well—or at all.

If it is possible, his glare alone would take pleasure in slowly and painfully killing her.

But Sakura is made of sterner stuff.

She will not cower.

"..I'm sure you won't fail..?" Takeshi interjects, going for casualness, though both Sakura and Reborn can see the sweat lining his brow. Hayato too is pale but he knows better than to get in between an angry hitman and his target. "Ah.. You tutored me last year, remember?"

Sakura's eyes soften when they turn on him, further encouraged with the tight furl of Reborn's death aura. "Yeah, I remember. Do you still need help? I don't mind tutoring."

"That'll be great. I remember you explained things really well. They were really easy to understand. We weren't even in the same class but it helped a lot!"

"Takeshi, it wasn't anything special. You would've been fine if you read your textbook." Sakura relaxes partially on Takeshi as an apology for the rollercoaster that was today. Takeshi doesn't mind. He's a very physical person, thriving on physical touches and friendly gestures.

For now, Reborn drops the mafia issue but Sakura is not naive enough to believe that would be the last she hears of it.

"I can tutor him, Jyuudaime!"

Sakura turns bewildered eyes on Hayato. "You?" Just managing to reign in her scepticism. It wouldn't do to make him think she doubts his ability.

There's a determination in his eyes that fuels his enthusiasm. "I'm highly qualified! I've looked up the material until the end of high school and it's a breeze. No worries!"

It's not his qualifications that she's worried about.

"Maa maa, then all three of us can just study together? We can coordinate when answering homework questions."

"Stop wasting Jyuudaime's precious time, baseball-freak! She has much better things to do than—"

And so begins another argument.

She's this close to banging her head against the wall.

She's tired. She's stressed. Why couldn't they behave as they did for her mother?

A knock interrupts the one-sided heated argument. As if summoned, Nana appears at the doorway dressed in a nice white blouse and an ironed navy blue knee-length skirt. Touched up with a little makeup and simple earrings, she looks very pretty. "Are you children okay? Do you need anything? I can whip something up before I head off."

"It's fine, Maman," Reborn says.

"No, thank you, okaa-sama," Hayato says.

"We're good," Takeshi reassures brightly for good measure.

Nana ruffles Hayato and Takeshi's hair. "Such sweet boys," she coos.

They both blush.

Sakura bites down on her snicker before it could leave her mouth.

"Sa-chan, you left your phone downstairs. A Sasagawa Kyoko invited you to a cake outing." Nana tosses the phone to Sakura for her to catch.

"Oh!" Sakura says, opening the email and then sending a reply.

"How exciting! An outing to the new cake shop nearby sounds wonderful."

"I'm not going. I said no," Sakura corrects, quickly checking the rest of her emails before tossing the phone softly on her bed.

Looking back up to her mother's face only reveals narrowed eyes and thin lips.

It is clear to all that Sawada Nana does not agree with this decision.

Sakura almost groans, she's forgotten amidst her lifestyle change.

" _My cute Sa-chan,"_ Nana starts and Sakura has heard this a thousand times before, "Takeshi-kun and Hayato-kun—" Sakura notices their face pink almost in tandem, "are _great wonderful friends. Perfect._

"But there are some things you can only talk to girlfriends about, you know?"

"I don't have anything to talk to them about," Sakura says.

If she assumed that Nana had any tact, Sakura is wrong.

"How are you going to talk about boys then?"

Sakura straightens, no longer leaning on Takeshi, snapping, "I don't want to talk about boys!"

"Okay. How are you going to talk about that special someone you like then?" Nana offers instead.

"I don't like anybody! So there's no point!" Her cheeks flush with annoyance, wishing this conversation to be over _now_.

"You're just getting through late puberty. There's no shame in being a late bloomer."

"Kaa-san!" Sakura yells indignantly, "You can't say those things in front of my friends! Don't you need to _go?_ You'll be late!"

Nana checks the time. "Oh! So late already? Take care. Dinner is on the stove. I made enough for everyone, in case you boys want to stay over. We would love the company—"

" _Kaa-san,_ " Sakura says exasperated.

"Okay, I'm going. Be nice to your friends." Sakura huffs. Her mother leans down to kiss her head before heading out.

It's only when she hears the front door closing that she groans, covering her face.

Takeshi pats her back in sympathy.

"Please let me die in peace."

"Why don't you go?" Reborn asks, breaking her out of her shame.

No remorse, Sakura responds, "I'm busy."

"You won't be doing anything then," Reborn counters.

"I won't be doing anything with friends."

"Haha, I think you should go," Takeshi adds in his opinion.

This, of course, offends Hayato. "Don't tell Jyuudaime what to do."

The pair of boys fall back into an argument like Nana never appeared to interrupt.

Sakura sighs, wondering why this occurs every time they hang out.

They have to argue about everything, not just about her, she's just the topic this time.

Sakura doesn't understand.

Truly, she doesn't.

Why couldn't she understand?

..

* * *

..

"Giotto formed the Vongola in response to corruption in Italy. 400 years ago, when Vongola first started, they protected the people of the slums from the aristocrats that were taking advantage of them.

"Vongola wasn't a mafia famiglia then, instead a vigilante group. They actively fought against corrupt mafia famiglias for the benefit of the people.

"Vongola Primo accepted anyone into the Famiglia, regardless of background. This is seen through his guardians who while having incredible combat prowess are also immensely loyal to him. Though he has the shortest reign of any of the bosses—7 years after Vongola is officially formed—it is an uncontested fact that Giotto was strongest Vongola Sky throughout history."

"But why? I mean.. Didn't you say.. That he abdicated before retiring to Japan? If he loved the people, why stop?"

Seven years wasn't that long of a period, especially if it was just a group starting out.

Reborn's eyes stare her down, a black abyss where secrets go to disappear. "He stepped down due to internal strife. That is all that is known."

Sakura wonders if that's really true.

..

* * *

..

Sakura breathes. Then, breathes out.

Thoughts filter through her and she does her best to observe them from a distance. Letting them come and letting them go.

She ignores the bed under her. She ignores the sounds of nightlife falling through her window. She ignores the hitman across from her also meditating.

It's a nightly ritual now. She's no longer surprised.

She tunes in to her flecks of dying will flame floating throughout her body. Just taking her time to observe them and making no move to direct anymore to her seal.

Even now, at the end of a long day, there are enough flames heading there. A constant flow, which she dials back further.

It's not a sprint but a marathon. She can't afford to use it all up at once.

She thinks she knows what Reborn means.

When he says that the Sky flames characteristic is harmony.

It is not anything she could describe out loud but there's a pleasing note to this power within her.

That doesn't disappear even when manifesting the flame physically.

She scans her body head to toe, cataloguing aches and bruises. She finds it very curious that dying will flames congregate in those areas, almost bathing them completely.

It is extremely difficult to separate what she knows she needs from the harmony aspect of itself. Difficult but not impossible. Her body flashes hot then cold and she uses her breathing to settle herself, before attempting to soothe the smallest of aches, the littlest of bruises.

Managing to heal those if not perfectly then at least with no trace.

It is both a great leap forward and too little achievement all at once.

Once again, she uses her breathing to centre herself. Her breathe is neutral. Her breathe is not fire, calm up until the moment it fights against her.

Her breathe is safe.

This time she ignores the body that she cannot allow to shake.

She ignores the blank abyss on her forehead greedy to suck all her dying will flames.

She ignores the fire in her body that begs to be heard.

She shouldn't have reconnected her Byakugou seal prematurely. Her control is nowhere near as sharp as it used to be. If she's not careful it'll do more harm than good.

Sakura's not an idiot. She knows Reborn has been healing her if she pushes too hard like he did that first time she woke up from a nightmare. It's a boon, though he probably doesn't know to what degree.

Without his healing abilities, she would have needed to disconnect the Byakugou seal.

Tsunade only let her form the seal after she proved her exceptional control over and over again. The difficulty to achieve the seal is no joke.

Shizune's path to achieving the Byakugou almost ended disastrously after all; It almost backfires onto her chakra coils. It was a mix of luck and skill that saved her. Her senpai never tried again. Sakura doesn't know if Shizune comes to regret or thank that decision later in the war.

Sakura's path to achieving the Byakugou the first time started before she even knew about the seal. Tsunade had her sharpening her control like a knife. She augmented her strength only as necessary. She had to excel in performing high-pressured surgeries with maximum efficiency but only just enough focus.

For Sakura, Tsunade allowed no room for error.

Sakura found that her shishou was right to do so.

The period between connecting and achieving is long and arduous.

This is just the beginning. In another life, Sakura remembers adjusting and readjusting her day to include more naps and the occasional faints after surgery. Shizune fretted borderline pleading with her to take it easy.

But Tsunade understood.

With a careless wave and serious eyes, she said, "Do whatever you want, brat. _It's on your head._ "

Then and now, those are the words she keeps close to her heart.

Sakura knows— _she knows_ —this isn't the smartest way to go through it.

But she also knows this is the way she doesn't regret.

This is the path where she gives her all and then some.

Anyway, it is not much longer now until (near) perfect control. A few weeks at most. With near-perfect control, the flow to her seal will only be a background thought. She can handle the time between now and then of being hyperaware and extra careful.

To safely reverse it now, sharpen her control _and then_ reconnect her seal would be a waste of time.

What if these few weeks are the difference between frontline and side-lines once more? She was right to push herself in her previous life. The Hokage knew it, the Head of Medical Corps knew it, the Head of Strategic Operations knew it.

Sakura, seal-blazing proud on her wide forehead, made a difference before Naruto could return. She had to believe that.

She focuses once more on controlling the flow of dying will flames into her seal.

She had to believe that.

..

* * *

..

"Lackey. Go fetch those papers for me."

Sakura briefly closes her eyes, patience coming slowly, overpowered by her second-hand feeling of chagrin.

Takeshi though, has a level of good sportsmanship that rises above her own, manages to smile as he brings over the paper from her desk to Hayato's working desk. It is only 5 metres away, highly unnecessary, and farther for Takeshi to get to her table then to Hayato's table than for Hayato himself to get to her table and back. Hayato though, cares not about necessity nor speed, only that he has an excuse to boss Takeshi around.

If she knew this is what it would have come to by assigning Takeshi's 'punishment' as helping out the Student Council she might have reconsidered.

But Hayato is gleeful and Takeshi shows no sign of resentment, seemingly content with lazing around doing odd jobs and working on his homework.

In those terms, Hayato's various astounding uses of Takeshi as a glorified assistant is harmless—probably.

Anyway, it is nice to have another set of hands preparing for the Sports Festival.

Maybe by then, she should let him compete with the baseball team?

Sakura watches as Hayato then orders Takeshi to grab his bag from across the room. (That Hayato placed there purposefully.)

Yeah, as a reward for... _that._

"So, Takeshi, I'm pretty sure I saw a sword at your place the other day."

"Oh, that, oyaji uses that for the dojo I think."

"He goes to a dojo?"

"No, he owns the dojo! He likes teaching, though he likes cooking more which is good since TakeSushi is bringing in the money."

"Where did he learn then?"

"Hmm? I don't know. Guess I never asked. It's a long time ago though before I was born." Takeshi goes back to his homework in peace, genuinely unknowing.

Sakura wonders if she has stumbled upon dark secrets, maybe a hidden past. Tsuyoshi could have studied to be a samurai, or had been part of the yakuza, or even another _mafia famiglia_.

Hayato's eyes too are alight with conspiracy theories. She can almost see the frantic racing of his mind.

Sakura is this close to pushing the matter but instead, she pushes such thoughts away as (possible but not probable) fancies.

Hayato might not realise but they are all currently on Hibari territory. And the Yamamotos has lived peacefully on it for years.

If there was a dark secret or hidden past, it has long been resolved. The Hibaris are nothing if not thorough.

She cannot fool herself into thinking she's not disappointed.

She is. A little.

Only a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. It's Sakura (out of all the Team 7) that's a product of her environment. We all know the rest of the boys would have been great regardless. Kakashi prodigy Hatake. Naruto Kyuubi jinchuuriki Uzumaki & Sasuke i'm an Avenger Uchiha. (Even in non-massacre its Kakashi prodigy Hatake, Naruto son of 4th Uzumaki, Sasuke biggest brother complex ever Uchiha.) But Sakura wouldn't have gotten half as far if she wasn't surrounded by such bigger than life people. Sure she might have eventually bucked up on her own & became a pretty good but standard jounin but its the whole clusterfuck that was Team 7 that pushed her so hard she routinely faints after surgeries. She could've easily gained that seal in 5 years but pushing herself really got the seal completed in time for the war. So Sakura in a civilian environment? She's a civilian. She's a scarred civilian but she's civilian. But now there's mafia! flames! prodigy home tutor! Being a civilian gets thrown out of the window. So bitch get ready for mafia Sakura.
> 
> 2\. Hayato is having that outsider syndrome when your other friends have known each other longer. Sakura is having that outsider syndrome that comes when boys have a rivalry. Takeshi too is having that outsider syndrome due to not being mafia.
> 
> 3\. This originally wasn't a chapter until I noticed that I was doing that Harry rule where everything you do is for Harry but nobody actually talks to Harry, which on principle is the wrong thing to do. So have some Takeshi interaction. Surprisingly, there's still a lot of plot? (It's because of the title) Also I have yet to show Hayato as chaotic helper & SHAME ON ME
> 
> 4\. I'm sure you're like what is the point of the chameleon-coffee scene? & shame on you Leon is a beloved character in KHR, we have to introduce him. For real though it took forever to introduce Leon? If Sakura can think slugs are cute, chameleons are no biggie. (The pacing of this chapter is pretty bad no lie)
> 
> 5\. If you guys notice, the format for the first 7 or 8 chaps are a bit different than the current & it's due to my brief time with my beta SorakoMizumi. I wish you all the best wherever you are.
> 
> 6\. My beta lightreader1, was like Reborn doesn't really act cute. The contradiction between his blunt & serious demeanour to his cute appearance is what is funny—& I was like... That's true? Now, I'm a bit paranoid that this Reborn is ooc. My other beta wistpossessed, was like don't worry too much about Reborn now. At this point of the story, he's primarily a plot device—& that's also true but I LOVE HIM. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL. (Btw, I'm still looking for betas)
> 
> 7\. Pakkun & Sakura uses Floral Green. Pakkun is a highly qualified ninken with a really sensitive nose. Floral Green, if nothing else, must be a calming (not irritating or invasive) scent. It probs smell like leaves. Meanwhile, Sakura with her hair trauma is hypersensitive to doing too much to her hair or being perceived as vain. She would be looking through the store for a smell that wouldn't stand out. Floral Green is great to blend into forests. But now Sakura is in a period of industrialisation. A forest/leaf scent won't make her blend in nor would any of the flowery/vanilla scents. Nobody is going out of their way to scent mask. You keep clean, you don't smell, you good. Adapting to her civilian life, she'll pick up some normal shampoo (out of convenience if nothing else) & you know what she is irrationally attached to cherry blossoms okay!
> 
> 8\. I almost went Generation Cross (by Luki) route. Such a good story. If you're heading over tell them I sent my love (or hi or whatever). I don't remember if I ever commented actually...
> 
> 9\. Sakura said "Slow down. I don't understand." Or so Google Translate tells me. Hayato was babbling about the climate of post-WWII Italian mafia. Sakura was way off.
> 
> 10\. Pop Quiz! What's your favourite chapter of the last 10? (I'll probs ask ev 10 chaps.) (We made it to 10 chaps I might cryyyyy)


	11. Fuuta de la Stella

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. It's too early I hear you say. Screw that I say.

Sakura's stride does not change, but the pinpricks over her skin say more than necessary.

At the next opportune moment, she inconspicuously catches sight of the figure of a child no older than ten. Beige haired with deep-set eyes: this boy is foreign. He stalks her from a far, doing a decent job at blending in while keeping up. It's not awful work for a child.

"That's Le Petit Prince Fuuta," Reborn says, walking by her side. "His full name is Fuuta de la Stella. He's an S class informant in the mafia known as the Ranking Prince as anything he ranks has a 100% accuracy."

"Why did you call him?"

"I didn't call him."

Sakura's brow furrows.

Reborn is not _lying_.

She abruptly stops in the middle of the street and then spins, heading to where her new stalker lay. His eyes widen, tensing up, but he stays put. She's glad for she did not want to dash after him. Her muscles are still recovering from this morning's version of Reborn's hellish morning runs.

"Why are you following me?" She keeps her voice calm but firm. She does not want to scare him away, but she does not want him thinking he could lie to her face.

He blushes from being caught. "Sa-Sakura-nee!" Fuuta says, voice betraying his nervousness.

Sakura tilts her head in confusion. "Sakura-nee?"

_Oh shit!_

A revelation comes suddenly that shakes the foundation of her world.

Did Iemitsu have illegitimate children running around before he kicked the bucket?

_Fuck._

The boy continues on, clueless to her epiphany, "Can I call you Sakura-nee? I did a ranking on myself and out of 86 486 mafia members, Sawada Sakura is number one for one who would take me in and protect me."

The amount of relief this explanation brings her is shameful. She almost visibly deflates.

Never will she speak out loud how her mind automatically projected the worse case scenario.

Her mother would be extremely disappointed in her.

Looking closer at the boy, they are both vastly different. Fuuta has beige hair and dark brown eyes, with a cute button nose. Iemitsu was blond with a more gold, amber shade of brown eyes. There's no way they're related, right? They don't share any features.. Brown eyes don't count, most people had brown eyes.

To hide her guilt, and seeing no harm in such a nickname, Sakura agrees, "Yeah, sure, of course."

Fuuta is ignorant to her inner thoughts, to which she is thankful for. "Sakura-nee is also number one out of 86 234 in the mafia for having a soft heart. Sakura-nee, can I stay with you, please?"

What kind of ranking is having a soft heart?

"I—" She prepares to turn him down, but Fuuta's eyes are widening and his bottom lip trembles in a pout.

It's a plain tactic.

It's an elementary tactic.

She won't fall for it.

..

* * *

..

Sakura watches from her position sitting at the dinning table as Nana tries to feed Fuuta until he could not physically move.

The entire way home and then some, she's been berating herself for falling for the puppy eyes trick.

It's stupid.

Sakura recognises the manipulation. She's pulled it off brilliantly back in her day.

Heck, *Ino—*last Sakura knew it—still manages to pull it off and not seem childish.

But here they are.

To say her mother is ecstatic with their newest guest would be putting it mildly. She dotes on him like he is her own grandchild. As far as Sakura can see, Fuuta loves the attention, charming easily with his bright smiles and an easy nature.

Though, technically, it would be harder to find someone that Nana would not like.

She hasn't yet brought back someone her mother would disapprove of.

Nana and Fuuta are stuck in their own bubble, ignoring Sakura, as happiness and good thoughts practically radiate off them.

How did things become like this?

"Because you're soft," Reborn cuts in as if it's obvious.

He's happily digging into the spread Nana brings out for Fuuta, not bothered at all that Nana is ignoring them in favour of the new guest. "But this time it works to your favour. Good job, Sakura. You have successfully recruited Ranking Prince Fuuta into your family."

Leon flicks a tongue out in congratulations.

Sakura doesn't know how she's supposed to feel.

"...Thanks..? It's just for a while until we figure out where he could go."

Reborn says nothing to that, deciding to scrap whatever plans they had earlier in favour of lunch. Sakura eats too, might as well before Reborn and other random unexpected guests eat her out of house and home.

Fuuta is adamant with living with her.

Sakura though is not so sure.

What she is sure about is that if she asks the Ninth boss of Vongola to take care of Fuuta, Nono would do so gladly. She might not have ever met the man who hired Reborn, but she can't see any reason he would decline. Reborn mentioned earlier how famous and wanted Fuuta is—and if his rankings are really 100% correct, she can see why. If Nono had any sense, he would see that keeping Fuuta safe and happy would only be a boon for the famiglia.

..

* * *

..

"I didn't know you had a younger brother, Sakura."

She and Takeshi are the only ones lounging in her room, though the door is open. Reborn has disappeared elsewhere, busy doing whatever it is he does when he's not messing around with her life. "We're not related," she says nonchalantly, "He followed me home and is staying here for now."

"Oh, that's cool. He's like a stray then."

Thinking it over, she can't refute the statement. "...You could say that. He won't stay long. I think I'll send him to my grandparents."

"He wants to stay with you, right? Why don't you let him?"

Sakura's forehead creases, eyebrows scrunching up. "Well, he'll be fine over there. Gramps could help him better than I could." Sakura shrugs, as if that's that.

"Yeah, but he's happy here, isn't he?" Sakura stills, more for the tone of his voice than his words. Her eyes flicker to his and then just as quickly away.

Takeshi has no such ambivalency. His stare burns directly to her soul.

"He wants to stay," he says, "Isn't his decision important?"

She's quiet as she considers this, saying finally, "He's too young to decide what's best for himself."

The time stretches on, weighed though it is.

"You don't need to be old to know what you want."

Sakura's eyes flit around the room, anywhere besides Takeshi's face.

It is only natural then that the suspicious movement out her window catches her attention.

Three men in striped suits loiter outside, bulky in form, foreign in facial structure. They round the corner of the street, out of sight. Her heart drops to her stomach. She needs to know where Fuuta is.

It's not that nobody can wear a suit anymore without being a part of the mafia. It's more that she can recognise suspicious behaviour like it's in the blood flowing through her veins.

"Kaa-san, where is our guest?"

"He went out a while ago. I don't know where; he didn't say," calls the softer echo of her mother's voice from downstairs.

Sakura curses before rushing out of the room. "Stay here, Takeshi! I forgot something," Sakura says, jumping down the stairs entirely in two leaps. "I need to go on a quick run. It won't take long, promise!" She's already out of the house.

Rounding out the front gates, she almost runs into Hayato outside. His face instantly lights up. "Jyuudaime, I heard the Ranking Prince Fuuta is here! He has the power of the Ranking Planet!" Sakura doesn't know what he's talking about and she doesn't have the time to spare.

_Fuuta is missing._

"Takeshi is upstairs. Go make sure he is preoccupied. I got to do an important errand." She's off towards the direction those men were heading.

Right when she needs him, Reborn pops up like a guardian angel. Belatedly she tacks on, "Don't worry! Reborn is with me!" He keeps up using a green Leon scooter.

"Who are those men?" she asks the hitman. Her eyes dart every which way for clues, anything to indicate the location or heading of the men or Fuuta.

"They are part of the Todd famiglia. One of the numerous mafia famiglias after Fuuta's Ranking Book."

"Ranking book?"

"Information on the mafia is highly prized, Fuuta's rankings are even more so. After every ranking, he notes it down in a book he carries on him at all times or else he forgets them. It is said if you have in possession that book, you can rule the world."

Fuck urbanisation. Everything is too polished. No prints in the sand. No tire marks. No scraps of fabric or leftover food wrappers. She doesn't know what else to search for.

" _Where did they go..?_ "

Reborn too stops with her in the middle of the street. Anxiety bubbles up, simultaneously clogging and collapsing her esophagus. Her stomach churns restless. Dying Will flames flood her cells, propelling each other in their rush to leave her system, inevitably falling into her seal. She wrangles control of it viciously—This isn't amateur hour. She can't afford to make stupid mistakes.

The school is only a ten minutes jog from here. But he wouldn't be at her school, would he? The park is also not too far away. But would Fuuta be there? Would the men? Fuuta said he was staying with her so where would he go? Why would he leave her house? She should have questioned Nana further before leaving, _but she didn't want to lose track of the men—_

Well, too late for that.

"Clear your mind and block any distractions," Reborn's voice cuts through her thoughts like a knife, "Where does your Intuition tells you Fuuta is?"

Sakura doesn't hesitate. Eyes closing, she focuses on her breath and only her breath.

Gut feelings can be wrong, heavily influenced by emotions, experiences, anxiety and paranoia to name a few. It's heavily biased. She knew people who swore by their gut feeling, citing it as a reason they stayed alive for so long. She also knew people whose gut feeling failed them every time. She only needs to look as far as her shishou's large gambling debts.

Sakura doesn't know why Reborn is asking for this. But he hasn't failed her yet.

He has a purpose for everything. If it's important, he'll explain to her later.

In mental storage scrolls, she packs away all thoughts—her worries and doubts, locations and reasons, the sonorous roar of her Sky flames—until nothing is left.

Her body boils down to her breathing. Her mind a dark abyss.

Both calm her.

It's a mix of prodding and tingling that snaps her eyes open. _This way_ it beacons her, though she doesn't know why*.* She runs down the path all the same, following the only lead she has.

Turning a corner, she comes upon the men in the striped suits. She should have put more thought into this for the men notices her right away.

"Boss, that kid was with him!"

At least Fuuta is not here.

There's three men, a big-waisted one with a mohawk, a shorter thin guy with a horrible haircut that entirely covers his eyes, and the tall one which they identify as boss. They march closer with a cool certainty lining their movements, surrounding her as an intimidation tactic.

It's arrogance at its most ignorant. They don't know who they're facing against.

"Where did you hide Fuuta?" Bad Hair guy demands. Not above physical intimidation, he stalks forward, hand reaching out to snatch the front of her shirt. Sakura dodges, taking advantage of the man's momentum and imbalance to trip him, sending him sprawling against the ground.

"Fuuta?" The man on the ground yelps when Sakura steps on his hand. "Doesn't ring a bell," she says, unblinking.

"Bitch!" The boss snarls, rushing in with a punch Sakura could see coming from across the street.

"Sakura-nee, don't let him hit you!" Fuuta says, coming out of hiding, even as Sakura dodges. "That's Paolo Albani. He is ranked 55th out of 86 000 mafia members in attack strength."

"Attack strength? Well, if we're talking about powerful attacks.." Sakura round kicks Paolo with enough force that he staggers until hitting a wall where he collapses, knocked out cold. "I'm not too shabby myself."

"Boss!" Mohawk henchman yells.

"You'll pay for that, brat!" Bad Hair guy stands, recovered from earlier. Sakura was being kind when she did not break his hand. It is kindness wasted.

The remaining two goons rush at her from opposite sides. She smoothly extracts herself out of the way, grabbing the back of their heads before either could react and smashing them together. Both fall to the ground. Neither gets up.

She wipes her palms on her pants, grimacing. Bad Hair guy really needs to cool it on the hair gel.

She can't believe she was worried about these idiots.

"That was so cool, Sakura-nee!" Fuuta takes out from within his jacket a gigantic book half his height and thicker than his neck, laying it flat on the street. "Your attack strength is ranked 1st! It was really great to witness!"

Sakura leans over the book, interest peaking, " _Is it?_ "

 _Nice_.

It's only when Fuuta snaps his book shut and stores it back within his jacket undetected that Sakura comes back to herself. She flicks Fuuta's forehead. His hand instantly comes up to cover it.

"Ow! Sakura- _nee_.." His eyes widen and water, mouth set in a pitiful frown.

She's having none of it.

"Don't Sakura-nee me! I would have handled them just fine even if you stayed hidden."

"But the Todd family is ranked 7th for bloodlust!"

Sakura raises an eyebrow. "So? They still didn't land a finger on me."

Fuuta pouts as he grabs a plastic bag filled with food behind the lamppost.

"I'll call someone up for body disposal," the wall says beside her, startling her so badly she jumped. Damn it, he almost gave her a cardiac arrest!

She's either getting worse at situational awareness or Reborn is getting better at disguises. Both are bad situations.

"Thank you," she says struggling for composure. She won't give him a reaction. She won't.

Walking Fuuta home is a remarkably simple affair. He gives the food over easily and grabs her hand with the other.

"You know," Sakura begins, keeping her eyes forward, "it's okay to let okaa-san do the shopping. She likes taking care of people. It makes her really happy."

"Really?" Fuuta turns his large brown eyes on her.

"Yeah, instead of doing it for her, you can join her while she shops. She would prefer that."

"Okay!"

"You must have a lot of people after your book, huh.." The tensing of his shoulders is enough confirmation. It saddens her. He can't even be ten yet. "Is that why you want to stay here? If you wanted the best protection, Vongola Nono would gladly give his aid." He won't look at her and it's as good as a confession. "But you don't want to be used, right?"

Fuuta's next words are weighted, solemn in their sincerity, so very different from the cheerful boy she's seen so far. "I love ranking people. I love recording them down and comparing them for later. But I don't like... how everyone else wants them too. Sakura-nee is number one who is willing to give someone a choice and also number one who is unable to contradict her heart. I thought if Sakura-nee took me in, she wouldn't take my book from me..."

"Oh _Fuuta_.." Her heart crumbles to pieces. "That's a big gamble you took." She pauses and Fuuta stops with her, his eyes on her. She crouches slightly so they could see eye-to-eye. "But you know.. I have a bit of a soft spot for gamblers.." she says like a secret, "But only smart ones." Winking at him, she's glad to see his face brightening up.

She holds his hands in both of hers, completely having his attention and conveying her sincerity. "I promise to never take your book from you. As long as I breathe, I won't let anyone take your rankings from you without your permission. You won't have to rank for anyone you don't have to," she says.

"What about if Vongola Nono asks...?" His voice warbles uncertain, eyes wet.

"Not even him," she vows, "It's a promise of a lifetime."

She leans in and kisses his forehead. When she pulls back, the look he gives her clenches her heart and soothes it in the same moment.

Like she just gave him the world.

When they eventually return home, to Nana, Hayato and Takeshi socialising in the kitchen, presenting their grocery hoard, Sakura asks if Fuuta could stay.

"Of course! You're always welcome here, Fuuta-kun. Just call me Mama, okay!"

Fuuta's eyes widen.

Takeshi interjects helpfully, "If that's too weird, you can just copy Reborn like I do. We use Maman. It's a cool nickname, isn't it?"

This is too much for Fuuta for his mouth trembles for real this time and he bursts into tears.

Nana swoops in for a hug, cooing and soothing, even as Fuuta tries to stop the tears with his hands. Takeshi freaks out, freely apologising, even as Hayato berates him from the moral high ground. Reborn and Leon sit to one side out of the way of the commotion as if they were always there, ignoring the happenings with an enviable ease.

It's warm.

..

* * *

..

That night, she coughs and coughs, blood speckles the handkerchief she never returned to Reborn. Her flame stores are lower than normal, though they didn't do any extra training today. Even through the excitement of today, Sakura made sure the flame flow to her unfinished seal stayed at a constant expedient level. She should have plenty leftover.

What happened?

Where did they go?

"It's because you're too soft."

Her eyes flicker to Reborn and he stares her down, his presence overwhelming, making her want to curl into herself.

She doesn't because she doesn't know what she did wrong.

"Dying Will," he says, pronouncing each word eloquently, "is originally about _intention_. Their uses vary, but as long as one can will it, there will be a way. A colleague of mine can survive tremendous physical damage. Many times more than what anyone should be able to survive, so much so that it earned him the moniker of Immortal. He doesn't die simply because he absolutely refuses to allow himself to die. His Dying Will manifests so, and his cloud flames do the work unseen within his body.

"Since your Dying Will is unwaveringly pure—and as long as it stays that way—every time someone tries to take the Ranking Book from Fuuta, your flames would presumably decrease like an idiot. Currently, we don't know what exactly will occur. The possibilities are numerous. The book could be encased in flames. Both the book and Fuuta could be encased in flames. Your flames could burn anyone who tries to cinders. Someone will need to try to know for sure. But one thing we do know: _If you finish all of it, you die._ You already have lower than the normal person, Dame-Sakura. And as the number one who can't contradict her heart... you don't even regret this, do you?"

Sakura grins unrepentant. "Nope."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. What's that I hear you say? Bias? Damn right I say. Let me tell you a secret... The easiest way to read your biases is to goddamn write them.
> 
> 2\. Reborn often gives Tsuna positive encouragements, when he hit a mafia milestone, it's only a shame because Tsuna never wants these mafia milestones & so thinks the encouragement is sarcastic or at his expense. Reborn is harsh of course but he teaches with positive & negative reinforcement (like you don't want to be Decimo? What about Neo Primo? SO cool right? (For real tho being Neo Primo is technically cooler than Decimo. Tsuna definitely starts a trend after that (Vongola trendsetters am I RIGHT). Dino is this close to retitling himself Cavallone Neo Primo. Fran on the other hand, has gone ahead & retitled himself as Varia Neo Mist (while Mammon is still Varia mist). Nobody can change his mind. Mukuro has tried.)). What I'm saying is REBORN IS THE BEST TEACHER YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY MIND. Nono (= Ninth) made a lot of mistakes but hiring Reborn is not one of them.
> 
> 3\. Let's start the next 10 chaps off right with Fuuuuuuutaaaaaaaaaaaa!
> 
> 4\. I didn't just write Fuuta because I adore him, it was part of it, but he also fit the narrative so well. Much better than Lambo if he arrived first.
> 
> 5\. When Fuuta first appeared, he commented that Tsuna's rank did not change from 6 months earlier. That means he already visited 6 months ago & then left. I was like Fuuta? Why? Sweet boy. Officially Fuuta arrives either January or February, after New Years & during winter. July would be the earliest he could visit. Screw that he's my favourite son & I love him too much to wait 2 in story months for him so enjoy Fuuta 2 months early.
> 
> 6\. Fuuta is really interesting. He stays with Tsuna first because he was caught, not expecting Tsuna to be able to protect him. He just wants someone to not steal his book & #1 Least Ambitious Tsuna is perfect.
> 
> 7\. I don't know if there's only 86k people in the mafia or only 88k people Fuuta has seen or heard of? Is 86k in the mafia underground a lot or a little? Does anyone know?
> 
> 8\. You know I grossly underestimated how difficult keeping a writing schedule & a study schedule is. Who knew avoiding studying makes one so busy? Hopefully, this 10 day update schedule stays the same...
> 
> 9\. Headcanon that everyone calls Nana 'Maman' because Reborn can't say Mama (cause he's a baby) & everyone just copies Reborn cause he's that charismatic. In Takeshi's head Maman is a nickname but it's actually French for mom & Fuuta is of french descent somehow & so I made my baby cry.


	12. Sasagawa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome old & new readers alike. I bet you thought I wouldn’t be back. I understand that it’s exam period for some of you (for me actually). I ask that you think about if this chap is really worth it. If you come back in 10 days, you’ll be able to read two chaps. You’re not missing anything spectacular. It’s not my best work, but it’s also not my worst. Think about it. Besides that, enjoy.

“This year—Will be the best! I see around me such EXTREME faces!! It is why I have complete confidence in our shared victory!” Sasagawa Ryohei proclaims. Though he is Kyoko’s older brother, he doesn’t share any of her features. While Kyoko has golden brown hair and eyes, Ryohei’s are almost leached of colour. His white hair outgrows its usual buzz-cut, leaving him with a wild and rough look which is only emphasised with the scar running across his temple and his almost permanent bandage across his nose. His grey eyes, meanwhile, can pierce anyone and anything.

They don’t look alike. They don’t act alike. But it is undeniable that they care for each other. It is undeniable that they are the siblings.

If Kyoko has Namimori Middle’s heart, Ryohei has its spirit.

The crowd cheers Ryohei’s blind faith. His statement is nonsensically bold, and that’s part of the reason why so many people like him. She can’t blame them. Ryohei, captain of the boxing club, has a charismatic leadership and unfailing strength. His optimism shines brighter than the Sun. While not the smartest club captain but definitely the most passionate, he leads only a handful of people within his club.

Sakura’s pretty sure all their members are willing to die for Ryohei’s belief though.

She can respect that.

“It is an honour to lead you all,” Ryohei says, to which the crowd hushes instantly, hanging onto every word, “and I would do so with extreme pleasure! So it’s sad for me to say—

“I RESIGN.”

Sakura blinks in surprise. “What?” she says, uncomprehending. She’s not the only one confused—The crowd roars back with their own opinions.

Ryohei slams his hands on the table. The students closest to him instantly wince, leaning away from him. “As you all know,” Ryohei says, “each team leader will take their place on top of the pole during the Pole Knocking Competition, while the rest of the team fights off the competitors on the ground. The leader must be firm and strong and extremely fixed on his goal!”

“Yeah! It fits you, Sasagawa! _You’re_ _so extreme_.”

The upperclassman who said that and his group of friends break out in laughter.

Ryohei takes it in stride, nodding. “I would have extremely done my best, it’s true, but.... I want to fight on the ground!! I don’t want to be waiting on top!”

Ryohei’s year mates instantly break out in laughter, some snickering, others with tears in their eyes. Sakura only sighs in exasperation. She’s surrounded by children. Literal children.

Kyoko—unfortunately related to Ryohei and thus knowing him too well—puts her face in her hands in embarrassment. “Geez, onii-san...”

Hana whistles, surprised by Ryohei’s gall. “Damn, I think he just entered an all new level of selfish, Kyoko.”

Sakura rubs Kyoko’s back soothingly in empathy. Takeshi though, rude person he is, just laughs slouching on his desk. Hayato too is with them, taking his customary seat next to her, bored and barely paying attention, levelling on two of the chair’s legs. She should tell him to respect school property more. His legs really shouldn’t be on the table, but considering it’s Hayato, nobody has told him off yet.

“So for this reason—” Ryohei says, needless to his friends’ friendly booing.

“Don’t just decide that yourself!” someone yells in reply. Their allocated sport teachers seem amused—some shaking their head, some barely hiding a grin—and content to let Ryohei lead the meeting.

“We’ll need a replacement. For the next Team A leader, I nominate Sawada Sakura.”

Sakura’s head snaps up, eyebrows shooting upwards. Hayato, in tune to every mention of her name, falls—chair and all—to the ground with a crash.

“What?” she says.

“What!?” Hayato copies, his head propped on the table, eyes focused for once on the sports meeting.

“Oh!” Kyoko perks up, embarrassment forgotten, pitching her voice to the room, “I think that’s a great idea! I’ll second that nomination.”

At Kyoko’s recommendation—lovely, level-headed Kyoko—what was just another crazy idea of Ryohei’s becomes something sensible. Sakura hears the crowd now murmuring to each other, the idea slowly growing on them.

_Oh, no way._

Sakura smiles to the room, polite but firm. “I’m very busy already, I’m afraid. Overseeing the Sports Festival is enough for me, thanks.” Sakura motions to the crowd of boys who were loudly making their own opinions known throughout Ryohei’s speech, “What about one of the third years? It is their last chance to take part as Namimori Middle school students.”

“I don’t mind,” the captain of the football club says, smiling winningly. The tight feeling in her chest loosens. He’s a good replacement, athletic and responsible. He might not have Ryohei’s charisma, but he wouldn’t slack off on the work like many others would.

“Really?” Kyoko pitches in, bottom lip between her teeth, “I think you would do a much better job fighting alongside onii-san...” She turns her big brown eyes on the third-year.

He folds immediately in the face of her wants, needless to the Sakura’s own stare. “O-Oh, that’s true. Ryohei and I make a great team.”

“It is more strategic to have all our strongest fighters on the ground,” Hana contributes thoughtfully, “If you do a good enough job, nobody would even get high enough to climb the pole.”

Sakura stares around wide-eyed.

Hayato stands, slamming his hands on his desk, finally getting his bearings, with a defensive opinion at the ready.

Kyoko intervenes before he could start. “Don’t you think Sakura-chan would make a great leader, Gokudera-kun, Takeshi-kun?” she asks. “You would know best, wouldn’t you, since you’re currently in the Student Council?”

Dread solidifies as a stone in her gut. There’s only one way for them to answer that.

Hayato scoffs, offended Kyoko even asked. “Jyuudaime is the best damn leader anywhere, leagues above anyone else in this stupid school.”

“If Sakura leads Team A, we’ll win for sure,” Takeshi says simply.

That decides it. With such overwhelming support, Sakura accepts her position, and a teacher notes down her name as Leader. Ryohei steps down, satisfied. The rest of the meeting is spent choosing other positions which are rightly filled by other third years. Sakura is the only one out. Though she was elected by the majority, now that all the important positions are filled, envious eyes can’t help but track her. She can’t blame them, they are still many third years that weren’t chosen. Many that would have no doubt needed the position as Sports Leader to boost their resume to getting into a good high school. But it’s also not her fault so Sakura ignores them with ease. If they didn’t want the position until everything was gone, they wouldn’t have done a good job with it.

After that, they break off for group sign ups. Takeshi heads off to sign up for every sport competition he could join. Hana heads to sign up for band. Kyoko heads to the big group of girls, signing up for cheer. Only Hayato stays by her side, not at all interested in participating more than he has to.

Sakura leans her head back, sighing. She has the irrational urge to kick her legs on the table and just sprawl like she owns the place, which is definitely due to Hayato’s influence.

“What’s wrong, Jyuudaime?” Hayato turns his green eyes to her, hyper-attentive to her.

The last few weeks have been a learning curve for him. He’s settled down from the boy who pulls out dynamites at the slightest hint of a threat. Mostly, it’s due to figuring out that he doesn’t need to threaten people with dynamites to get his way. Simply glaring them down is enough. A month in school and he’s already cultivated a reputation to not be messed with, a few times even beating up Namimori High school delinquents when they tried to show him his place. Needless to say, the delinquents landed themselves in the hospital. Sakura remembers Hibari’s reaction when he heard. That was a headache and a half. But it only further cements Hayato’s standing near the top of the social ladder that is Namimori Middle.

Hayato breezes by on minimal amount of work and still maintains top marks in their year. Sakura too has pushed up her studies and they tie on school rankings. But the sheer mental prowess of Hayato is beyond her. She learns this the first time when he tried to explain exactly how Fuuta’s ranking ability worked in conjuncture with the mysterious Ranking Planet, leading to the temporary loss of gravity around Fuuta when he ranks. Don’t get her wrong, Sakura excels in advanced physics, chemistry and biology, and it’s second nature for her to apply her knowledge practically. But that day, when she listened on and on as Hayato walked her through his flowchart of theoretical mathematical-astronomical application, and even though she is listening _so_ attentively, Sakura was entirely lost. It did not help that Reborn nodded in agreement. Sakura has never had trouble following theory before. It was a new sensation. She did not like it.

Sakura never has to explain her reasoning behind anything theoretical—unlike moral and social judgements—Hayato just picks it up immediately.

Hayato is a bit like Shikamaru in that Sakura knows that if he really applied himself, he would be able to leave her in the dust. The other day she found out he made his own code just to stave his boredom in class. His preliminary attempts are leagues better than her own first few attempts. (She still broke his code though—Just to demonstrate its predictability. There’s always room for improvement, after all.)

Sometimes Sakura doesn’t know how to feel about that—sometimes she feels the stings of envy, sometimes she burns with flames of pride, _sometimes she drowns in the roaring waves of both._

“Just figuring out how to incorporate Team A Leader duties...” into her already packed schedule. Next to her actual studies, Reborn’s training, and just general Sports Festival planning and Student Council duties, it’s surprising she’s getting any sleep. “I don’t know what Kyoko-chan and Sasagawa-senpai were thinking..”

Sakura’s eyes catches on a third-year heading their way. Hayato turns over to look at the newcomer, face already set in an unrelenting death glare. Beautiful, serious and athletic, archery club captain Mori doesn’t falter in her stride. With a confidence and surety of step that only comes with being on her last year in the school, she bypasses Hayato entirely. “I heard from the girls,” she begins, needless to Hayato’s presence, “that you did a front flip across a crowd of students and stuck the landing on improvisation.” Ino would have added a hair flick right then just because she could. Mori doesn’t even play with her long ponytail. Sakura is strangely disappointed. “I need that sort of ability on my team.”

Sakura smiles politely, wondering who ratted her out. “I’m sorry, Mori-senpai, but I already have plenty on my plate with leading the Student Council and Team A.”

Mori smiles back, just as politely. “I’m not taking no, Sawada, you’re joining cheer.” Hayato bristles at the disrespect, and Sakura is very tempted to sic him on someone.

“Why don’t you let your subordinates do some more work?” a high-pitched voice interrupts. “Delegation is key in leadership roles.” Sakura turns and finds Reborn. He’s dressed as a Namimori Middle school student with his shirt untucked and hair wild. Sakura’s eyebrow twitches as the sight.

What’s the point of wearing the uniform if he won’t wear it properly?

“That’s right,” Hayato perks up, tune changing. “You can count on me. I won’t let the Sports Festival fail. This one will be the best one this school has ever seen.” He gives her a thumbs up like that is all the reassurance she needs.

“That’s great to hear,” Mori says, seeing an opportunity. “Then there’s no reason for you to turn down cheer. Don’t be late for practice, I will post the schedule in three days. It’ll definitely be the hall, even if I have to fight the other girls for it.”

Mori walks away back to the cheer sign-up sheet, just in time for Kyoko to arrive back. There’s an excited gleam in her eyes and a bounce in her step. “Are you joining cheer? That’s great, Sakura-chan! I’m joining too. We can keep each other company.” Sakura smiles in return, though her heart isn’t in it.

Once their group completes, with Hana and Takeshi returning, Sakura complains, “Since pole-knocking became a tradition, there’s never been a female sports leader.”

“It’s not against the rules,” Hana says like that would make Sakura feel better. “The rough housing is just a big factor for girls. Leaders leave with bruises and ruined clothes.” She leans closer, sly eyes amused, smirk at the ready. “I heard five years ago, someone lost his shorts because they were torn off.”

“Hana-chan!” Kyoko says indignant, “That can’t be true.”

Hana raises an eyebrow, lips pursed. “Really? I heard it from Naomi-sensei.”

“Did they win?” Takeshi asks, eyes wide, tone wondrous yet soft, caught between dismay and amusement.

“Yep,” Hana says, emphasising the consonant. “But do you really want to lose your shorts for a competition?”

Hayato’s eyes are wide in horror, the only one who was completely in the dark about Namimori Middle’s infamous Pole Knocking Competition. He immediately rectifies this lack of information, and Takeshi and Hana are happy enough to answer any questions.

Sakura turns away, not interested, choosing to engage Kyoko in conversation. “I haven’t spoken to Sasagawa-senpai in ages, why would he suddenly nominate me?”

Kyoko blushes prettily, looking away, embarrassed. The people casually looking over at their group fall deeper in love. Sakura though doesn’t miss the way Kyoko wrings her hands. “That would be my fault...” she says carefully, tone genuinely sorry. “I was just telling onii-san how cool you were. When we talk at home, you just come up as one of my friends.” Sakura says nothing. Kyoko’s nerves get the better of her. “I’m really sorry, Sakura-chan! I didn’t think onii-san would go this far. He was supposed to be Team Leader...”

“Why did you support his idea then?”

“I thought you were the best person for the job,” Kyoko says, but she can’t hold Sakura’s eyes for longer than a second.

Sakura groans. “I wasn’t kidding. I’m very busy—” Sakura looks away from Kyoko and barely keeps from running her hands through her hair. “ _I don’t have time for this._ “

A comforting hand rests on her shoulder and Sakura follows it to Takeshi’s warm face. “Don’t fret, Sakura. You’ll have us to help you.”

“That’s right, Sakura-chan,” Kyoko says, furiously nodding. “I wasn’t going to let you do it alone. Hana-chan and I would have helped.” Hana nods in agreement, elbow linked with Kyoko, though Sakura only sees it in her periphery. Her eyes search Kyoko’s, finding them damp. Remorse strikes her swiftly.

Hayato forcefully unattaches Takeshi’s hand from her shoulder, nose scrunching in distaste. “Don’t worry, Jyuudaime. I will give my life before I let this Sports Festival fail.”

Sakura smiles, tiny but real. “Let’s not go that far, Gokudera-kun.”

..

* * *

..

“Okay—And break! Good work, everyone! Take 10 mins to yourself—rest, drink water, refill your bottle, stretch—but don’t travel far. I want you back here on time,” Mori says before conferring with two other girls near the open laptop, probably about choreography or something similar.

Sakura swipes the sweat off her forehead, unbearably hot. Mori is pushing them hard, though they’ve already almost mastered the first part of the sequence. Making her way to the sitting area where a mix of bags and people are located, she grabs her bottle and drinks half of it before just pouring a little on her head. It’s cooling, even if it makes her feel like a drowned cat.

Hayato doesn’t look up from the laptop when he types, though he did hand her a hand towel with one hand. She thanks him, wiping her face and neck before falling into stretching positions.

“I have the Sports Festival schedule here,” Hayato says, passing a piece of paper.

Sakura peers at it, nodding thoughtfully. “Move Pole Knocking to right before Closing Ceremony. Everything else looks fine. Email it to Kusakabe so they have a copy.” Hayato makes a note of it before moving on.

“I looked into the competition. Team B Leader is Takada, captain of the sumo club while Team C has Oshikiri, captain of the karate club. Team B leader is bulky, unnecessarily so. It’s irrational that they chose him to sit on top of the pole. To quote Yamamoto ‘his sense of balance is uncanny’. Meanwhile, Team C leader though I hear is slippery, placing either second or third in interschool competitions for the past 3 years. Though apparently they wanted the cycling captain instead. There might be something to exploit there. Oshikiri is fairly balanced in terms of both upper and lower body strength. Yamamoto says that it’s his kicks that are to watch out for.” Hayato hands her a piece of paper and she takes it automatically. It’s a little hard to read when she’s rolling her head around so Hayato summarises it, “On that sheet, I’ve thought of various scenarios to get rid of Team B and Team C Leaders. Taking them out on the day or just before would work best as it would leave our competition with minimal or no time to replace them. The tricky part is getting that bastard Hibari to think it’s an accident.”

Indeed, now that Sakura has paused her neck stretching, Hayato’s have concocted very elaborate scenarios to sabotage the competition—and typed it out for her easy reading. Sakura doesn’t know whether she’s more horrified or impressed at the plans Hayato suggested. While he definitely shouldn’t have physical evidence of a crime he plans on doing kept on him— _he shouldn’t be leaving evidence at all_ —plan number five is strangely promising and would be _highly amusing_ for all parties involved, except the other Leaders of course. For a brief moment, she’s tempted.

“Gokudera-kun, we’re not allowed to blackmail, threaten, harm or otherwise affect the competition in a negative manner. _This is for fun,”_ Sakura stresses. "Everyone should be trying to enjoy themselves."

Hayato scrunches his nose, disgusted. Sakura is not sure which part of her statement he disagrees with.

Kyoko plops down beside them, arriving with two cool refilled bottles of water in tow. She drinks from one and then joins Sakura in stretching. “Nice laptop, Gokudera-kun,” Kyoko says.

“It’s not mine. Arai lent it to me.”

Kyoko’s brow furrows. “I thought the deco team teacher is Wada-sensei?”

“It is.”

“....Aren’t you in the deco team, Gokudera-kun?”

“Tch, I didn’t want to be with some idiots making banners and signs so I left. Now I handle merchandising for the finance group.”

And wasn’t that a surprise when Sakura heard—not that Hayato is brilliant with numbers because he is—the fact that they actually trusted him with anything linked to money, considering his delinquent reputation.

She guesses the most surprising part was when Kusakabe recommended Hayato to the Team A Finance Teacher.

_—And she listened._

Sakura honestly thought Hayato would get by with not participating at all, no matter what the school regulations claimed.

“That’s really cool,” Kyoko says, stretching her shoulders. “It’s a good thing you always come for cheer practice, Gokudera-kun. That’s mostly the reason why the other teams don’t know our routine yet. It’s really nice to have an ace up our sleeves.” Kyoko folds forward to touch her toes. “Hana and I heard that the female sports try-outs for Team B are intense. Such a shame they have so many good athletes. It brings in bad sportsmanship.” Sakura perks up from her position stretching her thighs, smiling at that. It’s less work for Team A if Team B is too busy fighting each other. “Team C on the other hand only has two top athletes with the best definitely being Eiko-chan. Though she’s notorious for messing up on actual competition days. It’s very bad luck. Once for a competition, a clock fell on her just as she passed through the doors. She got knocked out and missed the entire competition. The teachers would probably put her name in but keep the other as back-up.” Kyoko eyes Sakura, who’s currently on her hands and feet making a bridge. “I heard Kumiko-sensei listed you to join the 100 metre sprints.”

Sakura grimaces, remembering that conversation. Kicking off her feet, she stands on her hands and then goes back to standing normally. “Yeah, only the sprints though. That’s where we are the weakest Gokudera-kun says—I’ll win that. But everything else, I’ll leave to the other players. They let me off the hook for practising with them once I mentioned that I’ll practise with Takeshi.”

Kyoko nods, knowingly. “Yes, I heard Takeshi-kun got in for sprints and ball-toss so far. If he could, he would join all the competitions—And win them too I wager.” Kyoko cocks her head to the side, thinking. “He hasn’t lost an individual competition in years.”

Kyoko opens her mouth to say more but is cut off. “Breaks over! Come back in formation!” Mori calls.

“That’s our cue, Sakura-chan.”

“Oh! That reminds me.” Sakura turns to Hayato. “How’s the front with getting Kyoya to say something for the Opening Ceremony?”

“Sakura-chan,” Kyoko says almost a whine pulling her away, but not before Sakura catches sight of Hayato’s darkening face.

Sakura steps in formation, breathing out a heavy sigh, and then clearing her mind to focus on the routine.

She doesn’t need to hear Hayato’s verbal response to know it’s a no.

..

* * *

..

“I need to be—”

“Two minutes, Sakura-chan,” Kyoko pleads, “It would only be two minutes of your time.”

Sakura nods.

They are in a secluded area of the school, nearer to a lesser used staircase. Sakura doesn’t know what Kyoko needs that she would care about privacy. Kyoko, while not necessarily one to revel in attention, doesn’t particularly hate it either. Attention of some form is always on her and through the years she’s learn to accept and deal with it.

From her bag, Kyoko takes out a white sports headband. Unfolding it, the lettering ‘Sawada Sakura’ with a heart capped at each end is clear and cute. Hand sown in pink, Kyoko presents it to her like an offering that would break if she wasn’t careful.

“I made it for you,” Kyoko begins, big golden brown eyes vulnerable, “to wear on the day of the Sports Festival. I know you would already have your own but... I really am sorry, Sakura-chan. I didn’t think... I didn’t really understand just how much work you would be doing.”

Sakura takes the headband from Kyoko’s hands and spends a moment just observing it. Fluffy, clean, an unblemished white. There’s something about how pure it is that doesn’t sit right with her. Generally Sakura avoids white, there’s the fact that it’s just such a pain to care for, there’s the fact that white reminds her of lab coats that she no longer has, there’s the fact some of her nightmares are strewn with white figures. There’s the fact that white is purity and Sakura hasn’t been pure since she’s first killed someone on her Village’s orders.

She ties it like a hair band, helping her pull her hair away from her face. Kyoko watches her uncomprehending before breaking out in a grin. Sakura smiles. There was never a question about whether Kyoko would have been forgiven. “Thank you. On the real day... I’ll wear it properly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. So many names in this chapter & none of them are important (except you Ryohei). I didn’t want to add them but avoiding it would have felt unnatural
> 
> 2\. Social manipulators Sasagawa siblings. How do you like them? I love dumbass Ryohei with the great instincts but also I find myself writing him differently. It’s interesting to explore the Sasagawa siblings
> 
> 3\. The original draft of this chap included next chapter but my beta, wistpossessed was like Kyoko is a highlight & I was like ?? I should make her the STAR so I did. I don’t know where so much Kyoko came from but she demanded to be heard.
> 
> 4\. Astronomy is not Sakura’s area of expertise
> 
> 5\. In the manga, they decided the Team Leader the day before Sports Fest & what the heck man???
> 
> 6\. Sakura: We don’t threaten the competition  
> Hayato: Not even a little?  
> Sakura: No  
> Hayato: Civilian school is more boring than I thought
> 
> 7\. Originally, it was ‘“Yep,” Hana says, popping the ‘p’’ but then I remembered they technically talking in Japanese
> 
> 8\. In this story, I never want it to seem like the world revolves around Sakura. The characters have their own lives with their own challenges & highs & lows. They should seem familiar somehow.
> 
> 9\. Sakura says: I don’t have time for this  
> Kyoko hears: I don’t have time for you
> 
> 10\. Apparently there are only 3 teams for athletic fest & if its according to class (with max 30) & 2 levels, then the school body consists of 270 students? That’s really small? I dunno what do you guys think.


	13. Team Two

She slams her hands down on the table to make her point. Leaning in, she speaks so that he _listens_ , “The members of the Disciplinary Committee are a part of the student body.”

Kyoya looks up at her with calculating black eyes.

“If they want to take part in the Sports Festival, _they should be allowed to_ ,“ Sakura reiterates.

..

* * *

..

“How did it go?” is the first thing she hears when the doors of Kyoya’s personal room close behind her. Sakura smiles at the short and impressionable Disciplinary Committee member, maybe it’s the presence of Fuuta in her house that makes her want to ruffle his hair. She doesn’t, because that would be weird, but she sort of feels the habit to.

“Welcome to Team A, Sato,” she says. Sato whoops, grinning wildly, relief making him less disciplined and more free with his emotions than what a Disciplinary Committee member should show. Sakura halts his celebration with a hand. “Just tell me where you want to join and I would be sure to let Gokudera-kun know what’s your schedule would be like. I’m sure you can still try out for competitions if you want. No promises for finalising, but there’s no harm in trying.”

Sato looks away, his cheeks pinking slightly, his body fidgeting on the spot. “I-Uh-I actually want to join the cheer team.”

Sakura blinks and then grins more broadly. “That’s great. We’re always looking for people on the ground or in the air. You’re a bit behind, but I’m sure I can help out during practice. Who knows? You might even be throwing me in the air again. Go speak with Mori, she can give you more details than I can.”

Sato flushes in pleasure, giving a quick “Yes, Kaichou!” before hurrying out of the office, excitement lacing his steps. Sakura watches, amused.

“Should I be worrying about more of the Disciplinary Committee leaving to join the Sport Teams?” Kusakabe’s voice interrupts her. Turning, she sees his dark eyes alight, though his mouth betrays none of it.

“You would know best,” Sakura concedes, “But be sure to let them know, okay? Maybe a few more want to join the Festival.”

“Am I right to assume Gokudera-san would be helping me work out a new patrol schedule that would account for all these members being busy?”

Sakura smiles, guilty. “Right on the money. I’m sorry. I’m just making more work for you both...”

Kusakabe waves her off. “They’ll always be more work. On that note, it’s almost time for your appointment with Team B. Last I knew Gokudera-san was by the courtyard. Let him know I will be emailing him about the list of members joining sports preparation and proposed patrol routes. It’ll come later as I need to handle some third-years who decided skipping sports preparation is a good idea.”

Sakura’s eyes flick to the hanging wall clock and Kusakabe’s right. “I’ll tell him. Thanks for everything. Good luck on your hunt,” Sakura says before going off in search for her Vice President.

It’s not that far from where she is to the courtyard. If she runs, it’ll be under five minutes. She takes her time, just relishing in the silence. It’s not often now that she just has the time to spend by herself either at school, home and training. If she didn’t have her nightly meditation, she might have gone crazy.

Sakura snorts. At least, she’s not Hayato.

_Hayato scowls at the itinerary. “Isn’t it customary for the school leaders to give a speech?”_

_Sakura goes through the items sealed away in the boxes. They are currently in the storage room, testing electronics. Most of these items haven’t been updated in 20 years, though generally still in working order. It’ll take a few test runs to understand how to work them. “Yeah, so I’ll give a speech as President after the Principal’s. Don’t worry, I can write that myself.” With her experience, writing speeches is a piece of cake._

_“Why isn’t Hibari speaking then?”_

_Sakura tests the bulky speaker almost as tall as she is. It won’t switch on. That could either be because it’s broken o she’s using it wrong. The model is probably as old as her mother. It would be easier to tell if that shit Teacher Advisor was here to guide them. “Kyoya doesn’t do crowds. He hates them.”_

_He growls, “So?”_

_Sakura spins to face him, hands on her hips. “Gokudera-kun, think. He barely attends classes. He never attends hall. What makes you think he would be present in front of a bigger-than-usual crowd giving a speech? Kyoya couldn’t care less about public relations. That’s why Kusakabe-san is giving the speech.”_

_“He’s getting off too easy. Blowing off his duties like that... He’s disrespecting you.”_

_“How so?”_

_“He’s showing how you aren’t equals by getting Kusakabe to speak in his place. The nerve of him...” Hayato crushes some papers in his hands. Hopefully, those weren’t anything too important. “I’ll make sure he gives a speech.”_

Finally alone, she rolls her eyes, which she didn’t allow herself to do in his presence then. _Everything_ is a personal affront to him, he spins conspiracies as if he were a spider weaving his web. Though this time she didn’t entirely disagree, Hayato is still the new kid. He didn’t understand yet how things worked here. But to give credit where credit’s due and considering how he came into this school without a proper understanding on how civilian schools worked, Sakura is very impressed with how far he has come. Sure, he threatened Genko into being more active in his duties before Sakura ordered him to ignore the Teacher Advisor instead. Sure, he was well on his way to threaten every teacher that taught them to never mark her wrong before Sakura put a stop to that. Sure, he would have beaten up students who came with concerns that he deemed ‘not important enough’ until Sakura said that all concerns were important.

But he listens and learns, and Sakura can’t ask for more than that.

He works well with detailed instructions. Leaving anything up to Hayato’s interpretation is a recipe for disaster. He tends to be overzealous and spiral down the wrong path. But—He hasn’t yet been caught smoking on school grounds after that first interaction, and surprisingly, he gets along with Kusakabe, though that’s just due to both of them taking their respective roles seriously.

It’s still positive social interaction for Hayato, which is always a good thing.

That’s not to say that everything is Hayato’s fault. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Personally, Sakura has struggled with Hayato on the Student Council. No longer could she do everything at her own pace whenever she chose. She has Hayato to take into account now: Hayato’s work ethics, Hayato’s interactions with people, Hayato’s lack of the usual social conventions, Hayato’s extreme follower mentality, Hayato’s feelings, Hayato’s do or die attitude.

Hayato’s eagerness to please her.

It’s not to say she minds so much. She doesn’t. Knowing she has Hayato’s loyalty makes them feel like a team. Hayato’s plan to follow her past middle school, high school, through the mafia, and into Vongola is a source of comfort. It’s stability in a sea of people who’ll enter and leave her life. But still, she’s wary.

How far will he follow her before he won’t any longer?

She hasn’t forgotten that he only started following her after a misunderstanding. Some basic compassion really. Compassion he can get anywhere else.

What happens when he receives more from elsewhere?

Her sky flames run turbulent, trapped beneath her skin. It is barely a thought for her to calm them. It’s not good to borrow troubles she doesn’t yet have and might never get.

For now, Hayato’s willing to kill for her. If she asks it of him, he wouldn’t even blink an eye. This fact in itself means the world to Sakura. Living amongst people with friendships that break one day and reforms the other, who thinks favours are when you send their missing schoolwork on a sick day, who rather see her suffer on the pedestal that they put her on than offer a helping hand. She knows it’s due to Hayato’s underworld upbringing, basically a cultural aspect of the mafia. It is the equivalent of having someone’s back. But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a trait Sakura prizes greatly.

There’s a reason shinobis don’t often make friends with civilians.

Besides, Hayato has been instrumental in the Sports Festival preparations. He has an efficiency and method of prioritisation that quite frankly Sakura envies highly. Sakura’s own organisation skills are a mix of cultivation, natural perfection, and vicious experience. Hayato’s apparently stem from a single-minded goal for the Sports Festival to succeed.

It’s both frightening and admirable.

Hayato might not understand nor care for their civilian schoolmates but he accepts his duties as Vice President of the Student Council very seriously.

It’s too bad that most everyone is still too afraid to approach him for help—or approach him in general.

It’s been nice lately. With Takeshi handling the students to Student Council interactions, Hayato coordinating efforts and Sakura overseeing and planning, Student Council work has actually almost been.. fun in a way. If not running as smooth as it can be.

Sakura is sure to milk all of it before Takeshi’s punishment ends.

“ _—temporary, after all_ ,“ the poisonous tones of Hayato’s voice reach Sakura’s ears. She sighs but picks up her pace, wanting to prevent civilian casualties. Every now or then, she has to prevent Hayato from getting into fights.

Though only if she arrives in time.

What’s unexpected this time around is what comes next.

“That’s funny,” Takeshi’s voice reaches her ears colder than ice, “ _I could say the same for you_.“

Sakura’s steps falter slightly before picking up even faster. Her sky flames flare in distress, heart beating like a drum in her chest. She doesn’t like how this sounds. Turning around the corner, the sight that greets her is worrying. Hayato is snarling in Takeshi’s face, fist clench tight around the collar of his shirt. Takeshi, eyes half-lidded, ever-present smile gone, doesn’t make a move to defend himself, though that doesn’t mean he isn’t ready to should things turn south.

Immediately, she steps into both boys’ line of sight, acting as an effective fight breaker. Sakura has lost her chance to eavesdrop further and broaden her context of this conversation. While she would have loved to do so, she’s very familiar with Hayato’s short temper. Already, he looks moments away from shoving dynamite down Takeshi’s throat and detonating.

And that can’t be happening on school property _under her watch_.

“What is going on?” she asks with a false lightness.

Hayato immediately releases the front of Takeshi’s shirt, sticking his fingers in his pockets. ‘Tch,’ he sounds instead of a proper reply. He doesn’t elaborate, and neither does Takeshi.

Neither of them can look her in the eye.

Sakura’s eyes flick up and down each boy’s form, besides the rough treatment of Takeshi’s shirt both boys are physically well. It looks like she came in time to prevent a physical fight.

—But not a verbal one.

“Gokudera-kun, we’re needed in the field. Takeshi, go speak with Kiyano-sensei if you haven’t yet.” If possible, Takeshi’s eyes darken further before he spins on his heel, heading towards the baseball pitches. Sakura stares after him, wondering.

She turns to Hayato to see he’s already watching her with sour green eyes. They search her face—for what she doesn’t know.

Sakura doesn’t think Hayato knows himself.

“C’mon.” Sakura tilts her head, motioning where they need to go. “Team B is having some trouble with their long jump try-outs.”

Hayato walks beside her, fingers clenching and unclenching. If he decides to pull out a cigarette for a smoke, Sakura would let it pass this once.

It’s just gotten more stressful the closer it comes to the Sports Festival.

Hayato doesn’t touch his cigarette packet though, taking out his lighter and flicking it on and off.

“They trust us to oversee their try-outs?” Hayato asks.

“It’s either us or the Disciplinary Committee. Nobody wants to bother the Disciplinary Committee.”

Hayato acquiesces to that, and they walk in silence.

Should she bring up the argument? It’s clear neither of them wanted to tell her about it. It might only make Hayato’s mood worse.

But her curiosity can’t prevent her from leaving it be.

Sakura stops in her tracks. They’re too close to the sports field already. Hayato stops too, shoulders tensing, though he refuses to face her.

“What was that about, Gokudera-kun?”

His fists clench, but he doesn’t say a word.

“You can tell me. I won’t judge. I won’t even say anything if you just want a listening ear. This is what friends are for.” But something she said was the wrong thing for Hayato’s knuckles turn unhealthily white. His muscles don’t loosen at all, high-strung under pressure, ready to snap at a moment’s notice.

Sakura would like nothing more than to be able to wait him out. To sit in silence as he weighs the pros and cons before coming to a decision.

But they don’t have that sort of time. Soon, someone will come searching for them both. And there’s no guarantee that Hayato wouldn’t take it out on them instead.

Sakura reaches for one of Hayato’s fists lightly, hoping her touch would soothe him. It doesn’t. If anything, it has the opposite effect. He tenses further, almost flinching back. She looks down at the clenched fist she holds prisoner and tries to figure out a way to carefully navigate this landmine. Hayato doesn’t show physical affection—he doesn’t so much as tap her on the shoulder to get her attention. He also doesn’t speak—not about anything important like his hopes, his dreams. He only ever focuses on her goals, her wants. Sakura doesn’t know if he understands, she’ll have to make him. “We’re a team,” she begins, carefully, slowly _but with intent_. Starting with the thumb, she uncurls it against his resistance. “It’s _you_ and _me_.“ The next two fingers she uncurls to prove her point. “—In the mafia, the Student Council. We’re going to reach the top— _Together_. Understand?”

The last two fingers uncurl easily, and she’s left with the sight of a harsh dry palm. A hand which plays with dynamites, which gets into fights three times a week, which has gone through much already before meeting her.

A hand which squeezes her’s _back_.

This time when Sakura looks at him, green eyes stare back. There’s a cool resolution within Hayato as he says, “We’ll show them.”

..

* * *

..

“Knock, knock.”

Takeshi startles, looking up from his batting position. “Oh, hi!”

Sakura gives an easy grin in return. “Hey yourself.”

“How long were you waiting for?”

“Twenty minutes or so. I didn’t want to disturb you.” Sakura eyes his jogging pants and sports shirt. He’s not sweating yet, even though the front clerk said Takeshi’s already been here for ten minutes when she arrived. She decided it was no hardship to let him play for a while before approaching. At this time, Namimori Bat, an unoriginal name for Namimori’s own batting cages, are empty save the two of them. It’s nice, as if they had the whole place to themselves. She can see why he comes so early.

Takeshi leans on his baseball bat. When it’s just the two of them, his smiles have a lazier edge. There’s no Yamamoto Takeshi show to put on for the world. It both soothes and makes her antsy. “What did you need?” he asks, too awake for the early morning.

“Do you want to come jogging with me? I’ll be doing a few rounds around Namimori before school starts.” Teasingly, she adds, “Lucky you, no Reborn today.”

Takeshi laughs, well aware of the excessive training methods Reborn puts her through. “Sure. What about the Student Council?”

“It won’t topple if I don’t head in early for one day.”

They start off faster than she usually does but doable. By the time the second lap happens, both of them have hit a common stride. “You do this all the time?” Takeshi asks, not winded yet. He’s not labelled the most athletic person in Namimori Middle for no reason.

“About every morning, yeah. I didn’t join a club because of Student Council so I needed some more exercise than what I get at school.” Sakura shrugs. “You get used to it.”

They run in peace and it’s a nice silence. Too bad she has to break it. “What was the argument about the other day?” She glances over at Takeshi. Eyes on the path, he makes no move to answer her nor pretends like he heard her. “Takeshi, I’m worried. You can understand why, can’t you?”

His eyes say he does. His lips though remain sealed.

They run for the next twenty minutes in silence before Sakura sighs. His expression says he could do this all day. She doesn’t doubt it. Takeshi’s stubbornness is infamous. This is the same boy who at the age of seven brought his toy baseball bat everywhere he went for three years straight. Elementary school was a wild ride for everyone. She knows, she was bringing around her kunai. “Fine, keep your secrets. Just don’t provoke Hayato anymore. I know how much you enjoy that.”

Takeshi purses his lips, put out. “What makes you think I provoked him?”

“Gokudera-kun doesn’t talk to anyone more than he has to.”

“He talks to you, doesn’t he,” Takeshi mutters.

Sakura glances at him, knowingly. “ _Takeshi_ , I’m serious. He’s sensitive, you know.”

Takeshi doesn’t smile. He doesn’t even try. “Gokudera is only sensitive about you.”

Sakura says nothing to that, going off path. Takeshi follows, though not quietly. “Why are we going this way?”

“The other path is Sasagawa-senpai’s route.”

“Oh? What’s wrong with that?”

Sakura blinks.

“Well, there’s nothing wrong per se... I just thought he would appreciate.. a... quiet morning?”

Takeshi raises his eyebrows at her.

Sakura didn’t need him to tell her how very stupid that statement is. She realises it the very moment it left her lips.

Instead, she tries again. “He reminds me of a good friend I had a long time ago and it just made me sad I guess... It doesn’t make me sad anymore.” Sakura shrugs again. “This route is just a habit now.”

“What happened to him?”

Sakura thinks and remembers. Remembers a green Jounin vest impossibly soaked with blood. Remembers a blinding smile smeared in dirt. Remembers fierce desperate hugs every time their bloody paths crossed.

But she can’t remember anymore the sound of his voice. She can’t remember if he had three eyelashes or four.

She never remembers enough.

“I dunno. He’s not around anymore...” She drifts off into silence and the silence is so _unlike who Lee was as a person that she had to fill it_. “The first time I met my friend, he proclaimed his feelings for me and said he would always protect me if I became his girlfriend.” Immediately, a sense of shame runs through her. She didn’t know why she started there. Sure, that was their first interaction, but it wasn’t the friend she came to know. That first interaction didn’t remotely show who Lee was as a person.

Lee was kindness and determination in a body that couldn’t keep up. He was optimism and discipline chasing backbreaking challenges.

In a world of unfair realities, he was another person who had to make himself to survive.

“He was... He had this habit of setting challenges for himself and then surpassing them.” He did 300 laps on his hands to commemorate every time she healed him from an injury. He distracted her while Ino planned and got into position her Chuunin promotion celebration party. “—He was always respectful even when I was mean. He never got angry and nothing kept him down for long. He tried his best to keep any promises he made, saying it was a ‘ _promise of a lifetime_.’“

Sakura eyes sparkle and it feels good to finally say these things out loud.

It feels good to acknowledge all the good times.

“He sounds like an extreme guy,” Takeshi says, voice soft and respectful.

She laughs. She runs a little ahead so he doesn’t see her wet eyes. “He was that.”

Takeshi not one to take a challenge lying down, implied or not, speeds up too and they begin a small game before returning onto the main road. “Why don’t we meet up with Ryohei-senpai?” he asks. “I think it would be cool.”

“Sure,” she says with a put-upon sigh, “but you’ll have to be prepared for at least ten more _extreme_ laps.”

Takeshi grins. “I can handle a challenge. In training, I won’t lose.”

Sakura nudges him before running ahead. Over her shoulder, she calls, “We’ll see about that!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Frankly, the Athletic Festival Sub-Arc is a pain. I outlined Hayato’s 3-act structure perspective (much work), threw it away (kidding) to vaguely plot Sakura’s pov & freestyle the rest. There is a structure okay (maybe—revisions were done), it’s just not seen it. The last leg of it is stubborn, we’ll see how it goes.
> 
> 2\. This story is limited by Sakura’s pov. I need this limit. Damn guys, I can’t handle immersing myself into other character’s pov
> 
> 3\. I don’t like this Hayato-Takeshi conflict but THE BOYS HAVE FEELINGS TOO & none of them are good.
> 
> 4\. Homegirl Sakura expects too much out of friendships she doesn’t want to make. Allies would kill for her. She for them. It’s not personal, it’s cultural. 
> 
> 5\. How is my paragraphing? In fanfics, I lose focus in big paragraphs. I’m big enough to admit it. But the rule is you change paragraphs when you change subjects. Subjects are so subjective tho. Am I making any sense?
> 
> 6\. Elementary school was indeed a wild ride for everyone. Kyoya had his tonfa. Sakura had her kunai. Takeshi had his baseball bat. The teachers weren’t paid enough for their service. (As you can see, none of them outgrew their obsessions.)
> 
> 7\. Bad habit #2: I talk around Hayato, not with him. It makes sense that he doesn’t want to be emotionally vulnerable (or vulnerable at all) but I am frustrated. I paralleled Sakura questioning Hayato’s loyalty to Genkishi almost betraying Uni because Byakuran saved his life. Logically, if someone else saves him, would he change sides? Sakura needs to ask the hard questions.
> 
> 8\. Sakura’s inner thoughts ping pong because her mind is stressed & cluttered—that’s the official reason. The actual reason is that I failed to smooth it
> 
> 9\. To be clear, Takeshi doesn’t think Hayato is only sensitive about Sakura. Hayato is a sensitive boi, which applies to all aspects of his life. People person Takeshi wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake. He just picks up that Hayato is especially sensitive in relation to Sakura.
> 
> 10\. I thought Lee gave a promise of a lifetime when he asked Sakura to be his girlfriend. But did that actually happen??? I also thought he got it from Gai & that Naruto copied him by promising to Sakura to bring Sasuke back. But since I’m already posting this story, this is story canon now.


	14. Athletic Festival Go!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frankly, this chapter is not done. But if I didn't post it today, you wouldn't get it this year. Officially, you are all hired to be my beta testers. Tell me if you cannot follow the logic or if anything felt off to you.

"It's finally here: the big day," Takeshi says, entirely unnecessarily. It's not like Sakura would forget when the preparations leading up to this day were many and hectic. The past few days especially; her sky flames are hyper-attentive, keyed to her emotions, closely shadowing her stress. The stress that only compounds as the days go by.

But it's over now, everything is finally ready to go.

The students line up in the open field according to the sports team. The spectators for today—a mix of parents and siblings who came to provide support—were further towards the back on raised platforms to sit on. Nana and Fuuta came waving at her excitedly when she looked over. Scanning the visitors, only Tsuyoshi is another familiar figure.

Her brows scrunch up without her permission, her nerves fill with an electricity she can't get rid of.

"Don't worry, Jyuudaime. We'll make sure it's a success."

Hayato stands unbothered by the crowd, arms crossed. They stood near the front, waiting for the principal to kick off his opening speech and start the day. Sakura nods at Hayato's words. There's a part of her that scoffs at how ridiculous she's worrying about this, but mostly she's restless.

"We've been preparing for so long. I think we've planned for everything. But this is the first major event of our Student Council.. I want everything to go perfectly." Turning to Takeshi, and subsequently cutting him off from giving Tsuyoshi a returning thumbs up, Sakura reminds, "You don't have to stand here. Your punishment is completed. Go be with your team."

Takeshi's eyes widen in surprise, his arm faltering in movement before falling to his sides as he remembers. "Yeah... That's right," he says, hesitating just a beat more before leaving for Team A line-ups.

Sakura half-expects to hear Hayato's 'good riddance,' but nothing comes. Green eyes follow Takeshi, even when he is predictably shepherded into a group. She thought both of them would be happy to get some distance, but it seems neither is.

She doesn't have time to analyse further as a voice over the speaker asks the crowd to quiet and stand at attention for the national anthem and school song. Sakura startles, though she follows along more habit than consciously—for this one disturbance from the norm doesn't take away years of the same routine. It's always speeches first, then the national anthem, but there's nothing Sakura can do as she watches the national flag raise.

"Welcome," speaks the croaky tones of the principal of Namimori Middle, Omura Kenshin, from the megaphone. The principal is an old man with kind eyes and an experienced air, who has been the principal of this school for the past thirty years. It's said he still has at least another ten years in him to go. She listens to his speech dutifully, even as she rearranges her mental checklist of the day: calisthenics should still be happening before breaking off into competitions.

After his speech is done, it becomes her turn. With her handwritten speech scrutinised and approved in order by Hayato, Reborn, Kyoya and then principal, and memorised (by her), she steps up to address the gathering. Her nerves fall away even before she addresses the crowd comprising hundreds of students, half of the non patrolling Disciplinary Committee lined up along the sides, and a fair turn out of visitors: guardians and children. For a moment she sees tens of thousands white figures—She blinks them away to focus on this pitifully small crowd. She sees gangly limbs. She sees faces still heavy with baby fat. She sees naïve eyes full of boredom.

Her speech goes off perfectly.

Kusakabe acknowledges her with a nod when she passes the megaphone over for the Disciplinary Committee's turn, before taking her spot next to Hayato. But Kusakabe doesn't speak.

Before she could wonder further, Kyoya strides in commanding silence. Sakura watches, mouth agape. In front of the biggest crowd he has yet appeared in, with predatory eyes and the faint curls of a smile cruelly amused yet challenging, he states, "Break the rules and I'll bite you to death." He flounces off as quickly as he came in, passing the megaphone back to Kusakabe.

Deathly silence follows in his wake. Faces pale dramatically in the crowd.

Sakura, meanwhile, turns to Hayato in shock. Her Vice President gives her a thumbs up, smug satisfaction the only prevalent emotion on his face.

A cough from Omura-sensei breaks her unrestrained grin. He holds the megaphone once more with amused eyes. Of course he's not intimidated at all, Sakura is fairly certain he's witnessed three generations of Hibaris, as a teacher then principal, through this school. "Thank you, Sawada-san and Hibari-san, for such wonderful speeches. This year, through generous support from local Namimori businesses, the winning Team will gain discounts across town: including the wet market, and karaoke rooms!"

A student-height prize hamper is wheeled to the front by Kiyano, catching the interest of everyone. "This year, secret judges will choose someone that best embodies the Namimori Middle values. That lucky winner will win a prize," the principal says, motioning to the prize hamper.

A high-pitched voice booms out from everywhere, "The prize~!" Taken aback, the teachers glance around in search of the source. Wearing an elephant headgear and blowing a green trumpet to the backdrop of confetti, Reborn bursts open from within the prize hamper. "—Is a date with the Student Council President, and the chance to advance your mafia relationship!"

"What?" Sakura says, shocked.

"WHAT?" Hayato says, appalled.

The crowd too explodes with noise.

Excitement rises almost visibly, filling the air. Hayato curses extensively in Italian. Watching the crowd, the most excited are obvious. "Damn... There goes my club," Sakura mutters. It's true for Okazaki, president of the Sawada Sakura club, is rallying troops for an emergency brainstorm and plan. She looks away, pretending ignorance.

The attending Disciplinary Committee members begin corralling the crowd into some semblance of order, by breaking out the crowd control techniques, but it doesn't stop the gossip-driven mouths of teenagers. Kimiko-sensei tries to get Omura-sensei to quiet the crowd, but he's too busy chuckling with no end in sight; the whole ordeal being more excitement than his heart should be able to handle.

Taking that as a cue for the end of the Opening Speeches, Sakura gestures for Kusakabe to move to the next phase of the day. Nodding, he leads the Disciplinary Committee members to deal with the crowd with admirable efficiency.

Meanwhile, Hayato is still cursing heavily in Italian.

It is within this time that Kyoko reaches them, the first of many. "Whoa, Sakura-chan, way to get everyone pumped!" she says, excitedly bouncing in place. "You're so brave. I'll try my hardest to win so we can advance our mafia relationship!" Her fist physically pumps the air. In that moment, the resembling to Ryohei is uncanny.

"Wait, no—You're misunderstanding..." But the attempt is useless. Kyoko's already off to prepare for the cheer performances with a single-minded drive.

Takeshi arrives next, good mood through the roof. "I'll try my hardest too!" Takeshi laughs, vowing playfully, "To advance our mafia relationship."

"Please stop," she says, but this only makes him laugh harder. Hayato finally stops cursing, sensing the presence of Takeshi, looking like he swallowed a lemon as a last meal towards his execution.

As serious as a funeral, Hayato tells her, "I won't let you down." He clamps a hand down hard on Takeshi's shoulder, both surprising Takeshi and cutting off any lingering laughter. "I made an oversight," he admits with heavy reluctance, "I didn't join any competitions." Hayato's hand tightens on Takeshi's shoulder. "I'll kill you if you don't win all your competitions."

Takeshi's returning smirk is vicious. "I wasn't planning to lose." For the first time, Takeshi flings an arm around Hayato but doesn't fling an arm around Sakura. There's a sense of dissonance that she feels. Hayato doesn't protest the arm as both boys dive into formulating a plan. "The principal said we were scored on Namimori Middle values: 'Honesty and Teamwork Builds Mountains'...?"

"No, fucker, it's 'The Best Offense is a Good Defence'."

Takeshi doesn't even process Hayato's cursing anymore, at this point it's just another of Hayato's eccentric character traits. "Right, the other one was Nami Kinder."

"Nobody gives a shit. You're a middle-schooler now, fucking act like it."

Sakura waits, but neither boy invites her into their plans.

It's unreal.

She's the Team A Leader. That means, out of the three of them, she has the best chance to display Namimori Middle values. Though, that doesn't mean anything to the scheming boys in front of her.

Her heart constricts, and so too do her flames.

..

* * *

..

Sakura takes a cool, water bottle that Sato shyly saves for her, smiling warmly. "Thank you, Sato. Good job. You did great out there."

The short boy flushes, pleased. "I couldn't have done it without your help. You were amazing..."

This time when she gets the urge to ruffle his hair, she doesn't stop herself. "Then, I'm glad to help." His hair is sticky with sweat but she doesn't mind. Though her headband did an admirable job, she is almost just as sweaty. It doesn't help that the sun hasn't yet peaked in the sky yet, still heating everything up. "I'll see you later during Pole Knocking. We'll show them what Team A is made of, and show off our Namimori Middle values."

"Don't push yourself too hard, Kaichou! Also—I think your headband looks very cute.."

Sakura touches the headband. It's a bit embarrassing that her name is clearly shown on her forehead, but she doesn't hide it, deciding to show off Kyoko's fine stitching. "Thank you. Kyoko-chan made it for me."

Kyoko wraps up talking with the other girls to come to her side, face still flushed from exertion. "It's Takeshi-kun's relay next. First year boys go first," she says, interrupting. "C'mon, Hana-chan would've saved us great seats." They both wave off Sato as they leave. The before performance jitters are gone now to be replaced with the waiting for the end-of-day results and the ease of Sports Festival.

"Actually, I think I'll watch nearer to the track. They'll be doing all the running competitions at once."

"Okay, good luck, Sakura-chan! Win!"

Sakura flashes her a smile. "Thanks!" Jogging to the runners on standby, she scans for a specific one, shouting, "Takeshi!"

His head snaps to her from his focus in stretching his muscles, and she notices his headband. His name too blazes proudly on his forehead, the odd one out among his competitors. Usually, one tucks away their name towards their forehead, but Takeshi must have chosen to mirror hers. She appreciates the show of support with them being the only two to be labelled this way. She hasn't even labelled her clothing in kindergarten—Ever since she's convinced her mother that yes, she can, in fact, responsibly take care of her things. "Yo!"

"Nice headband. Kyoko?" Sakura asks, and his returning smile gives assent. "Good luck out there. Be careful."

"It's fine. Been in one, you've been in all of them," he reassures. "No words for me to win?"

Sakura snorts. "What? You didn't hear enough threats from Gokudera-kun? Besides, I don't care about that."

"True, one date won't kill you. But when I win," his thumb points to himself, smiling with a confident naivete, "we can advance our mafia relationship."

Her heart almost physically freezes in motion, though she knows it's just a trick. Her flames panic, flooding her body every which way. Sakura twitches, and Takeshi's eyes are knowing. She looks at him but sees no sense to his craziness. "...What do you think mafia relationship means?"

"It's like a whole new level of friendship, right?"

Wrong. But she couldn't crush his dreams. "Yes."

His smile doesn't waver. It says it all.

The teacher's voice cuts off any further conversation and Takeshi has to leave. Sakura moves further back, not wanting to get in the way. Hayato, unsurprisingly, finds her.

"Hibari is out on his security patrol further away than usual—alone. The other lackeys are doing the normal route. So far three people had to visit the school nurse, one for band and two for cheer. They entered with minimum injuries." At Sakura's interested look, he elaborates, "Two stepped on their ankles wrongly but no sprain. One came in with a cold and left with a painkiller. It's okay; I made sure Shamal behaved himself."

Sakura's gaze sharpens, a frown pulling her face the very instant that doctor is mentioned. "Shamal? What does he have to do with this?"

"He's the school nurse."

"What? Since when?"

While Hayato doesn't look like he likes it, he also shrugs it off too easily. "Since today."

Sakura doesn't like this and neither do her flames as they flutter, straining against her control.

"What happened to Shirai-sensei?"

"Got a better opportunity elsewhere."

Wasn't that suspicious? Right when a mafia doctor is around to replace her. She'll have to talk to Reborn later. There's nothing she can do about it now, right in the middle of activities as it is. For now, she's supporting Takeshi and then she'll be competing. The teacher wouldn't take too kindly to their players running off.

The shots fire and the boys run down the track. Sakura takes this moment to shout Takeshi's name.

"Where is your guardian, Gokudera-kun?" she asks, changing the subject. "I scanned the crowd earlier, but I didn't see any foreigners." Takeshi finishes first, almost a metre faster than the other boys. It's no question who won. He lifts his hand to wave, and she waves back, smiling all the while.

"I don't have a guardian."

Sakura's head snaps to the boy besides her, eyebrows scrunching up, arm flopping down. "What do you mean?"

"I ran away from home years ago. Been on my own ever since."

Sakura opens her mouth, then closes it. What? And it clicks into place for Sakura. It's why he's been so tight with money, even with an illegal, (but still legal) part-time job. It's why he never turns down food, even when it's from Takeshi. It's why on school records, the guardian is noted as a fake identity. All this time, she contributed it to his mafia background. Of course, he's low on money. There's no mafia side-jobs in a peaceful place like Namimori. Of course, he eats food Takeshi brings. Why waste it? Of course, the guardian identity can't be real. He's probably a wanted criminal.

But it didn't occur to her that there was no one.

He's been on his own all this time—what does that mean? Where does he live? If he can only afford cheap meals, what does that mean for his living conditions? It can't be any good. Namimori is a good city, but that doesn't mean all the neighbourhoods are safe, especially the dirt, cheap ones. And he said he ran years ago. Hayato's thirteen. When—Why—did he ran away? Does he not like the mafia life? Could that be why? What's he doing with her?

Sakura comes to an abrupt realisation. Even with Kyoya's reign of terror, or maybe due to it, this life of hers has been pretty sheltered.

She opens her mouth once more but is cut off by the calls of the teacher. It's the girls' turn now, and she has to go. She knows her body is moving, one foot in front of the other, hands in position, back bending, eyes on the finish line, but the competition is the last thing on her mind. Her flames dance riots in the spaces between her bones, cushioning, reinforcing, desperate to be used. A loud bang, and she flies down the track. The moment she crosses the finish line, a solution presents itself to her crystal clear. The crowd cheers, and Sakura gives them a bright smile before finding Hayato. He stands in the same spot, pride clear in every line of his body.

Eyes shining, she jogs over, spitting out her solution as soon as Hayato is in ear-shot even before he can even offer his own congratulations, "Why don't you live with Kaa-san and I?" His unabashed smirk flattens, eyes widening, giving way to shock. Sakura wipes the sweat at the edges of her hairline with the ends of her sweatband, as her smile becomes a full-on grin. The more she thinks about it, the better the idea seems. Scheming, training—All of it would be easier if she has him close by. He could learn how to fake being a civilian if he lives under Nana's roof, and she could learn more about his mafia experiences. Reborn could train them both. They could get stronger together!

It's perfect!

"No."

Sakura leans back as if scalded. Hayato's glare is fixed on her, green eyes darkening to a storm. His scowl is prominent. Silver hair framing the stubborn line of his eyebrows. Her grin falls long forgotten.

Hayato's never denied her anything.

Until now.

"I—What—Why not? It'll be great. Kaa-san wouldn't mind. You wouldn't need to waste your money on an apartment. You could watch Fuuta when I can't—"

"No," he says again. His eyes hate the very idea. Sakura doesn't know why.

"Gokudera-kun, wouldn't it make sense protection-wise? Aren't you always accompanying me to school anyway? Making sure no one is accosting me unnecessarily? It'll be just like a bodyguard job—"

" _It's not happening_ ," he spits at last, words venomous. It burns her. Hayato had the same tone speaking with Takeshi that day she caught them. Both their words were sharp then, aimed to hurt. Maybe she was the naïve one when she thought it would never be directed at her.

She didn't notice at first why Hayato was shifting, but she realises soon enough that he was putting some distance between them.

"Hay—" she begins, but he is already gone, swallowed by the crowd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Let's pause to remember that KHR started as a gag manga. Accept the low-key crack & move on with your lives. I tried to soften Reborn's date blow but in doing so broke the tone & you know what Reborn doesn't need me to soften his blows. He's harsh & people have to deal with it. Also, karaoke rooms are dirt cheap in Japan. Giving 100 students a first free trip or 20% off should be no big deal.
> 
> 2\. Reborn: That baka student of mine is messing up her friendships. You know what builds stronger bonds? Common enemy! Fierce competition! ((Helps that the boys are single-minded. They could handle losing but not to randos. Also Reborn is attempting to gauge how Sakura responds to stressful situations. Better now in a relatively low risk environment))
> 
> 3\. Namimori middle values are based on its mascot the hedgehog. I chose hedgehog because its Kyoya's box animal. It makes all the sense. No, really, Kyoya's ringtone is the school anthem—That's canon
> 
> 4\. The timing for this event is a little off due to my confusion on seasons & my confusion in general. Manga-wise, it happens in autumn where everyone still dresses like its spring/summer. Real world, it happens end of summer. Also, I draw on a lot my own experiences as a starting point but in actuality Japan school sports festivals promote cooperation than competition.
> 
> 5\. It's not that Hayato doesn't care about Shamal being school nurse. For Hayato, Shamal & mosquitos belong to the same category. Killing them is ideal but impossible so precautionary steps are necessary.
> 
> 6\. Hayato is a grocery store worker working midnight shifts. Since this is Japan, it's technically illegal cause he's too young.
> 
> 7\. Speeches also include the head of PTA & city council rep but I skipped those mostly cause worldbuilding is hard. I'll address it during Cultural festival (if we get that far. On that note, what would you guys want the class to do? I take suggestions.) (I care way too much about the details of this story)
> 
> 8\. Normally, relay is last cause its the most competitive but since Pole knocking is KHR canon, I moved it to early in the day after the band & cheer to get the crowd pumping. In the middle is team events, which we don't see cause neither Sakura nor Hayato takes part.
> 
> 9\. This is gen. I don't have any plans for any of the characters to commit to a relationship. The mafia is commitment enough. There will be hints of crushes & pining from afar because it's a hormonal time for everyone.
> 
> 10\. This story does not attempt to address or show PTSD accurately. It's more like you carry your experiences with you. While I would try to handle mental health topics (like Takeshi) respectfully, do not take this as factually correct or use as a guide.


	15. Athletic Festival End!

"Why are you here?" Sakura asks, demeanour ice cold. Rightly, he should die with hypothermia.

Unfortunately, Shamal remains unaffected, a hyperthermic threat against humanity. There's a boyish edge in his smirk, and his eyes promise things she cares not for. Even just looking at him makes her body itch, violated. Sakura blasély wonders how he lives with himself.

"If it isn't the Student President herself giving me a visit," Shamal says, "How could I be of service?"

"You could drop dead."

Shamal hums, as if seriously considering it. "Besides that?"

"Quit," Sakura says, not playing around.

The nurse's office is a compact space, only half the size of a classroom. It is enough for two beds separated by a curtain, the nurse's desk, a sink and the supply cabinets. It is much too cozy a space for anyone to be sharing with this specific doctor.

He tuts, amused. "No can do, Vongola. I need the money. Hotel rooms get expensive after a while, even ones in a backwater place like Namimori." She bets his night life doesn't help either.

"Then leave. There's nothing keeping you here," Sakura says, pushing forward.

" _Au contraire._ " Shamal tilts his head just so. Black hair frames his forehead, a hairstyle too similar to that of Hayato's. Hayato who also told her _no_. "Reborn has placed me in charge of your health, and that means you'll be seeing plenty of me."

"Let me rephrase," Sakura says, as if talking to a particularly stubborn child, _"You're not wanted here_."

Shamal only leans closer. "I can change that," he says, low and husky.

Sakura sneers. "You're disgusting."

He shrugs. "That's a matter of opinion. And in this, yours doesn't matter." He looks at her knowingly, a shit-eating grin on his face. "Been a little low on flames the past few days, haven't you?"

She glares at him. "I've got it handled."

"Really?" He raises his eyebrow, unconvinced. "Doesn't look that way to me."

Abruptly, he changes subject, asking, "How is Hayato? Heard you had a little spat." Sakura's glare turns murderous, conveying how that's none of his business. "Don't be so surprised. We're mafioso. Do you think you could keep any secrets?"

Sakura grits her teeth. This is going nowhere except worsening her mood. "If I hear even one person _implying_ you weren't completely professional in your duties, I'll end you," she says. Shamal is amused and not bothering to hide it. He doesn't think she could do it. That would be the last mistake he makes.

"Vongola," he calls just before Sakura leaves. She pauses, even though she loathes to do so. "Careful... If you get too stressed, you could do more damage than anyone can fix. You need to know your limits."

Sakura leaves the nurse's office fuming. Her limits—what does he know—what does he _thinks_ he knows!

Not more than her, that's what!

Sakura heads over to the designated picnic area before the scheduled lunch hour finishes. She pauses briefly before leaving the building, closing her eyes, and taking deep breaths, desperate to be calm, even if it was faked. She doesn't want to ruin anyone else's day. Nana would be here, and so would Fuuta. Her mother would make both Hayato and Reborn join them. If Hayato reappeared, that is. Her hand swipes at the sweat on her upper lip. Her fingertips come away red.

Damn.

The day is only half over.

Tilting her head forward, pressuring her nose via handkerchief, she waits for it to finish. She's already out of sight, under the shade of the school building. There's no way she can walk back into the nurse's office after just storming out. She doesn't care how good Shamal supposedly is. She has too much pride to go crawling back.

There's nothing Shamal could do, anyway. Besides sedating her and knocking her out, how could he fix her mercurial moods?

It doesn't take long before her nosebleed stops. After a quick detour to the bathroom to wash her handkerchief and clean up, she goes to find the others. Once in the picnic area, she finds them all there along with the Yamamoto family, with dishes from both Nana and Tsuyoshi spread out over a mat. While everyone was chatting and having a grand, ol' time, they must have made good headway with the food, most of the dishes being half-empty.

Just like that, a real sense of calmness washes over her.

Nana notices her first, waving her over, calling, "Sa-chan! There you are! What took you so long? Come eat. We saved you some." Sakura takes the offered food in grace, ruffling Fuuta's hair, and seating herself besides Takeshi. "I'm so happy you've really put yourself out there—Offering a date! It's so romantic. It's so good to see you be outgoing now."

Sakura rolls her eyes. "Kaa-san, I've always been outgoing."

Nana pinches her cheeks. "Not in the ways that matter."

Takeshi snickers. Sakura stuffs her mouth with food so she doesn't snap at both of them. Reborn sips his expresso. He doesn't look at her; he doesn't look any different, but somehow his whole demeanour is knowing. Well, he can stuff it. Him and his mafia relationship, making her participate more than necessary, making Shamal the school nurse. She chews the sushi roll aggressively.

Takeshi nudges her with his elbow, brows furrowing. "You okay, Sakura?" he asks, voice low. Tsuyoshi and Nana go back to exchanging recipes with Nana making a good headway into getting the chef to give up the secrets to TakeSushi's success. Hayato is showing Fuuta something on his phone. Reborn and Leon eat. If they were polite, they wouldn't be listening in, but Sakura knows the opposite to be true.

"Yeah, just starving," she says, realising it to be true. Sakura fills her plate. It's a good thing both Nana and Tsuyoshi brought enough to feed a small army. "What did I miss?" she asks generally, wanting to listen to people talk more than she wants to contribute.

Fuuta jumps into the conversation as if waiting for his cue. Excited, he shows her. "Look, Sakura-nee! Gokudera is letting me be in charge of the Student Council social media for the rest of the day!" She blinks, seeing the phone screen, recognising the platform, even understanding every word on the page... It still doesn't register.

"...We don't have social media..."

"We do now, online as of 20 minutes ago. Currently, there's 317 followers," Hayato corrects.

This still does not compute. "We don't even have 300 students...?" Sakura waves around to emphasise. While some might follow, not all of them will, especially when even Sakura didn't know they have a social media presence before this.

Takeshi helpfully explains, "I shared it after I followed it, and then Kyoko-chan followed it and got Sasagawa-senpai to follow and then passed it on and before we knew it, the platform grew fast."

Fuuta bounces in place, eyes shining. "I'm going to share my rankings on who will win the later events." He quickly types, thumbs stumbling over the keys but no less enthusiastic.

"Good idea, Fuuta," Hayato encourages. "We can have a bet running against people who don't agree and earn some extra revenue." Hayato takes out a notebook, flipping to a blank page, ready to note down numbers.

Sakura chokes, mildly, even as Nana coos, "Oh my, little entrepreneurs!" Takeshi laughs at the prospect of a Student Council sanctioned gambling ring, pounding Sakura's back as Sakura tries to dislodge the food she was eating from her throat.

Encouraging such behaviour, Reborn wears a Leon-transformed green eyeshade, prepped with his own notebook and pen.

Everyone is having too much of a fun time, Sakura decides. She opens her mouth, then shuts it. Fuuta is enjoying himself and so is Hayato. So what if it is technically illegal? Who's going to catch them? Kyoya? It's not like he uses social media. Besides, it's close enough to a civilian experience to be a good learning experience for the mafia boys.

That decided, Sakura is content in the background of their picnic, just munching her food and picking her battles.

"Sakura, look here," Takeshi says soon after, taking Sakura's attention from one-sided argument between Nana and Hayato about the necessity of Hayato's daily packed lunches—Hayato arguing his case, Nana indulgently listening but not at all swayed to stop trying to feed him. Takeshi leans in, phone at the ready for a picture—Sakura smiles wide, hiding evidence of her plate—before snapping away. "Oyaji, you come too!"

Tsuyoshi is only too happy to join.

Eventually, it catches on to the entire group and only stops once Fuuta is satisfied with at least 20 pictures of funny faces that he could rank in terms of best lighting and 'most likely to be well-received online.' Surprisingly, Tsuyoshi agrees with the line-up. Unsurprisingly, Hayato doesn't, as he dislikes most pictures with Takeshi. On Reborn's prodding, that too becomes a bet with Nana's deserts on the line.

Hana and Kyoko stop by sometime later, bringing with them introductions and another round of commemorative picture taking. They leave quickly after, needing to visit other groups of friends, and Sakura waves them goodbye, unoffended. Takeshi's friends stop for a visit too, mostly girls, scurrying in and out, congratulating him and taking pictures. They never stay more than a minute at a time, for Hayato glares fiercely at each interruption, his annoyance increasing exponentially. Takeshi doesn't notice, or doesn't mind, waving at each face all the same.

Despite his obvious popularity, Takeshi doesn't leave them at all, even briefly.

..

* * *

..

"Stop squirming," Sakura says, holding Fuuta's face in one hand and applying sunblock with the other, "Kaa-san says you have to reapply every two hours daily."

"Every two hours!" Fuuta whines, head unconsciously leaning towards Hayato's figure, while Hayato patiently holds Fuuta's homemade, multifunctional 'Sawada' banner with one hand, and clicks through his phone with the other. There's no sympathy between the two, as Hayato has already reapplied his sunblock with zero fuss involved.

Takeshi squirts some sunblock on his fingers before swiping them carelessly over his face. "Yeah, don't worry; I always forget too."

The event straight after lunch is the Parents' and Guardians' Tug-O-War. Both Nana and Tsuyoshi have already left to take part. Be it luck or Reborn's intervention, they are sorted into the same team, which makes it easier cheering wise. While both Takeshi and Tsuyoshi would have been good sports, win or lose, Hayato wouldn't have been, and Fuuta would have been disappointed if Nana lost. Sakura's glad that there's no clash of interest this way.

Takeshi turns his head to Sakura as she finishes lathering the last of the sunblock into Fuuta's skin. Once able, Fuuta scampers away, grabbing the banner back from Hayato.

"How do I look?" Takeshi asks with streaks of white still on his face. There's an audible click of a camera from Hayato's phone, before Sakura hears Hayato's snickering and fingers clicking away at buttons. She gets a gut instinct that the picture is going online on their official page, forever immortalised on the internet (and in some people's photo galleries). And by the slight flush on Takeshi's cheeks, he knows it too. She distracts him by wiping away the last of the sunscreen, making Takeshi look slightly less like a mess. Of course, she's packed a compact mirror, but neither Fuuta nor Takeshi cares to use it.

"It's starting!" Fuuta exclaims excitedly, swaying side-to-side, trying to weave between the crowd and gain an unobstructed view. He's ten and short still, growing increasingly put out.

Takeshi fixes this by lifting Fuuta onto his shoulders with an, "Up you go!" Fuuta's initial scream pivots into laughter, and Takeshi doesn't complain at all when Fuuta pulls hard on his hair.

"Watch it, baseball idiot!" Hayato dives, fumbling to catch Fuuta's banner when Takeshi surprises Fuuta enough to drop it.

"Sorry." Takeshi laughs. But neither of them are listening, as the announcer's call begins the match, and politeness becomes the last thing on everyone's mind. Sakura quickly unfurls the banner, grasping one edge while Hayato holds the other. His other hand busy filming the match.

All four of them cheer their lungs out.

Both team stills, muscles straining, line taut, before inevitably one side gains. Nana and Tsuyoshi gain a little more ground before people start to slip. Even Nana slips, but the team is only a hair's breadth from winning. The cheers of her friends are deafening, heightened by the win. Sakura's eyes are only for her mother, who's laughing breathlessly on the ground. Tsuyoshi offers a hand and Nana takes it. Standing together, they high-five, laughing at ease.

Sakura sighs, revelation coming like a wave, words escaping her, "Aren't they such a good pair?"

" _Oh?_ " Reborn says interested, black eyes twinkling, deeming to finally address her after all the havoc he's caused. "You plan to get them together? How chaotic. I didn't think you had it in you." She doesn't know how Reborn heard her, for the crowd is still pretty loud. The boys beside her are too caught up to notice them.

Sakura eyes him, after days of hands-off teaching—almost ignoring her really—and this is what he wants to talk about? "I think if Kaa-san wants to butt into my love life, or lack of one, I have full permission to mess with hers. Only I'll be more..." Sakura waves the boys off, and they move on to congratulate Nana and Tsuyoshi, "subtle."

"She's already plenty happy," Reborn points out, not incorrectly.

"Yes but," Sakura motions to the two adults with her head, "don't they look good together?"

Reborn only smirks some more, pulling the fedora to shield him from the sun. "Do what you want, Dame-Sakura. It'll take more than a brief interaction before anything would happen. You got your stubbornness from somebody after all." Sakura wants to retort something clever but couldn't because Nana is pretty stubborn. She has her work cut out for her.

But she can think about that later.

"You've been busy," she says with distaste. Of all his schemes, she likes this upcoming one the least. "What with Shamal as the new nurse and that last-minute _prize_." Sakura turns her nose up. "Isn't it enough that I had to be Sports Leader? Or that I'm taking part in all this stuff?"

Reborn looks at her nonplussed. "No. If you can't handle this, how do you expect to lead Vongola? This is child's play."

Sakura glares at him. She knows that. She hates when he is logical. "Do you really expect me to go on a date with somebody?" Sakura snorts, "Or is it already rigged for Takeshi?" She shakes her head. "I don't care for your schemes, Reborn. He's not joining."

"You're breaking his heart."

"He'll live."

..

* * *

..

Takeshi laughs, clamping hands onto Sakura's shoulders. "Why don't we give Kaichou a break?" he asks, steering her away from another student, one complaining about the vague judging criteria.

Takeshi points over his shoulder. "Fukukaichou Gokudera is happy to hear the rest."

The glower on Hayato's face indicates that he would not be happy to hear the rest, thank you very much.

The student decides to cut his loses, getting away from Hayato with admirable speed. Sakura's headache makes her want to do the same.

She massages her temples, easing out the stress lines she was too young for. "I appreciate the thought, Takeshi, but I need to hear the complaints, eventually."

Takeshi sweeps it under the rug, "Yeah, but not now! It's almost time for the main event."

Sakura's head throbs at the reminder, not looking forward to it.

"Why don't you rest for a while? Save some energy for the final match," Takeshi says, not giving her any room to argue, instead strong-arming her to sit under the branches of a tree. Sakura wonders why such a nice area has not already been snatched up. Sure, it's out of the way from the activities, but it's cool, and still close enough that the background music played through the speakers is peaceful instead of obnoxious.

Speaking of the music, Sakura could briefly spot Fuuta weaving through the crowd, dancing clumsily along, with enough energy in his actions to have inspired Tsuyoshi to belt out the lyrics as a duet. She'd have to remember to give Fuuta a copy of the playlist, later. It would be easy enough. She'll just need to remember later. She has them on her laptop after Takeshi, Kyoko and Hana helped her update the line-up from the previous years. Hayato did his best too, but cold-calling and threatening other schools and radio stations did not turn out to be helpful.

On that note, Sakura's sure that Hayato is avoiding her—at least a little. Isn't that funny? That he can slip back into normal interactions with Takeshi easy as you can see, but not with her?

Her eyes burn, dry and tired. Her feet ache, and she only notices because she's sitting down. Swallowing, she finds herself dehydrated, remembering that she gave the rest of her bottle to Fuuta because she meant to drink from the water cooler later. But that was before she was waylaid.

Sakura's head throbs.

One more event.

Behind closed eyelids, she is briefly grateful when her surroundings get darker. What she isn't grateful for is the jacket thrown over her head.

"W-What?" she says, eyes fluttering open, breathing in the smells of gunpowder, sweat and cigarette smoke.

"Sleep. There's a little while yet until the next event," Hayato says, ignoring her struggle. Hayato presses down on the top of her head, keeping Sakura from tossing Hayato's jacket off immediately. His hand doesn't lift even as she grows increasingly irate.

"Gokudera-kun—"

"Lackey, you want to be useful? Go make sure the teachers aren't fucking shit up."

"No, I—" Takeshi starts, stops, then starts again, "Yeah, okay, I'll do that."

"Grab a new water bottle. This one is Jyuudaime's now."

The minute Hayato deems Takeshi far enough, he lets her out of his jacket. Sakura desperately gulps down clean air before levelling a glare on the boy crouching next to her. "What's that for?"

Hayato's scrunched eyebrows frame his serious gaze as he hands over a red handkerchief. Her glare doesn't lighten, even at the sight of black skull stitching. She takes the water bottle when he presses it to her hands though. "Your nose is bleeding." Sakura gasps, dabbing the handkerchief under nose and sure enough the red of blood is unmistakable. "I'll call Shamal," Hayato says, flipping out his smartphone.

"No!" She grabs his arm desperately, snatching his phone from his grasp. "No..." With his phone in her hands, and with a semblance of control back, she releases her death grip on his arm. If it hurt, Hayato didn't think to complain. "I just need to rest, it's not a big deal."

Hayato's mouth purses, clearly he disagrees.

"Don't get Shamal," she pleads at last.

His eyes are stormy, but he settles into a more comfortable position next to her. That more than anything makes her tense shoulders relax. She drinks from the bottle, careful not to tilt her head back. On one hand, she's hydrating herself. On the other, she can definitely tell she's having a nosebleed now.

Hayato grabs his phone back, insistent, "I should at least get Reborn-san. He has sun flames."

She stares for but a moment before it clicks into place, stomach dropping. Hayato knows. "Oh."

"I heard from Shamal," he says, as if navigating a landmine. She's never heard him use that tone before. "Reborn also said to keep an eye out—that a right-hand man should know these things."

Sakura can't look at him. Instead, her eyes focus on the blades of grass she's twisting between fingertips. Cool but fragile, they didn't last under her onslaught. "I bet it was disappointing..." She wishes the blood trickling out of her nose would stop. She wants at least that much dignity. "I mean, a sick boss is weak, isn't it? I'm sure, if they could, they would have someone not as vulnerable..." Someone who didn't spend the vast majority of life playing around as a civilian. Someone groomed to be the perfect heir. "Someone stronger, maybe."

That's the crux of the matter, isn't it? It almost doesn't matter that she's saving up for her strongest technique. Currently, she's the most vulnerable she ever will be. If she were an enemy, this would be the optimum period to attack and neutralise the threat. After all, the Vongola only want her because she's their last option. She can't fool herself into thinking she's their first choice. She's not and never will be their first choice—anybody's first choice.

Hayato slaps his hands on his knees and the sound shocks Sakura. Her eyes fly to his face with his glare on full blast. It is comfortingly familiar. "I'll blow up anyone who even _implies_ that you are weak. It doesn't matter that your body can't handle how strong your will is. There is nobody stronger—no, who could ever come close to being half as strong as you," he says with the vehemence of one certain.

Sakura can't help herself. She huffs out a laugh from under heavy eyelashes, eyes blurry. Ever since that first meeting, Hayato has said a version of this phrase to her every day. For the first time, they mean something more.

The space between them thrums with promise, fragile and new. She hesitantly prods it. "Why did you run away?"

His eyes look beyond her. For a moment she thinks she pushed too far too fast, again. But Hayato proves her wrong. "I found out that..." he begins, haltingly, "the bastard I called my father killed my real mother. She was his mistress. I didn't find out she was my mother until years after she died. I didn't even know her that well. But whenever she visited—when she was allowed to visit—she always had this _softness_ for me, something nobody else had. I knew she was special. And he killed her.

"Before that, I always thought about running away. I did it a few times, hiding on the house grounds. But that pushed me to do it for real. I didn't want anything to do with him." Hayato scowls, there're years of pain behind the action—anger, hurt, betrayal. She can only imagine what else. "Since he never came for me, I knew he wanted nothing to do with me either."

They sit in weighted silence. What could she say to him: _Sorry, but at least, you have me?_ Such careless disregard for the mother Hayato never got to know—a mother who loved her son enough to visit him, even if it was in secret. Nothing she could say would help, nor would have felt enough.

Instead, Sakura grabs Hayato's jacket from where she threw it off, crumpled and forgotten. She straightens it out, folding it under Hayato's weighted gaze, before handing it back properly.

When Hayato takes the jacket from her hands, it is a moment worth a thousand sunny days, and her smile turns soft. His, as well.

The silence after that is companionable.

..

* * *

..

The drowsiness slowly leaves her like low-tide waves. A quiet ambience brings her awake to sunlight; the faint music she selected calling out to her familiarly. She yawns, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, before startling fully awake.

"Don't bother getting up. You missed it."

Sakura's sight falls on the hitman beside her. He leans coolly against the tree, counting money with a practiced ease, purple, blue, and green bills atop a green Leon table.

"Gokudera gifted me all this money, see?" Sakura sees, eyes wide. It is not an insubstantial amount of cash. "Just so I wouldn't wake you. What kind of boss leaves her subordinates to fend for themselves? You have much yet to learn, Dame-Sakura."

"What? Then..." She pinpoints what's off and finds it to be the lack of rowdiness. The atmosphere is calmer now, more settled. "It's clean-up? What happened to Pole Knocking? Which team won? Who got the.. date?"

"Are you going to gift me money too?"

" _Reborn_ ," Sakura says, absolutely done.

"What about information then?"

Sakura narrows her eyes. "What could you possibly want to know?"

"Your flames—What's wrong with them?"

Blindsided, Sakura flails, "What do you mean?"

"There's something different about you—something off. Besides the fact that you're fighting against the nature of your flames. You need to stop. Like it or not, your flames and its characteristics represent you. They belong to you. You can't trade them, and you can't deny it. Learn to use the harmonious nature of your flames to your advantage. Manage your emotions, and the management of your dying will shall follow."

It's easier to be annoyed than anything else, so she is. "' _Manage your emotions_.' If it was that easy, wouldn't I have already done that?"

"Sakura, you didn't just 'take a nap', you fell into a low-level coma," Reborn doesn't snap it back, but his tone is harsh and unrelenting. "Stable. Probably harmless," he concedes. "You're lucky Gokudera didn't notice. He wouldn't be so focused on the school event if he did. You have plans, anyone can see that. You're vulnerable. That's unacceptable. Smart enemies will attack when you are weakest. A coma would be handing yourself to them for slaughter."

Sakura bristles, spine straightening. "I can't just stop—"

He takes in her whole conduct: the fever of her eyes, the facial expressions pulling her face, the muscles tensing for a fight. He probably takes in many other nonverbal cues too, reading her like a book.

"Why not?" he deliberates.

Because she's saving for her Byakugou seal. Because she will not waste flames just so Reborn won't say 'I told you so' if an enemy comes attacking when she's down.

"Because I have plans," she throws back, "You can see that clear as day."

Reborn narrows his gaze on her. She stares down his eyes, black as the abyss, and doesn't flinch.

She won't tell him what he wants to know because if he disapproves, it's over. If he sees it as a useless endeavour, he would stop her—and there's nothing she could do that would be enough to stop him.

Eventually, Reborn lowers the brim of his fedora, clicking his tongue. "I'll find out eventually. You're smart enough to know that."

If Sakura is going to have things her way, Reborn will find out after the seal is completed, and not a moment before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Finally Sakura realises that even if she is weak, Hayato might stay. Manga-wise, Hayato never blames Tsuna for failing anything. Early on, it's denial but later... Once Shittopi-chan showed Hayato a picture of nose bleeding Tsuna who accidentally saw Kyoko-chan's panties (expecting disgust at least right) & he went SO WHAT I KNEW THAT ALREADY. Tsuna was embarrassed but it was hilarious & heart-warming—Real throwback to Daily Arc. Because this was post-character development Hayato. This Hayato is Tsuna's friend, who accepts him for his faults but doesn't demean him for them, for he knows all of Tsuna's little habits the best. Hayato has him down pat. Nothing would surprise him.
> 
> 2\. Not socially-adjusted Hayato & Sakura see nothing wrong with casually talking about matricide. Meanwhile, Takeshi definitely has social media, which kickstarts Hayato's. Think: Takeshi posts one pic (bonus +Sakura) caption #nami middle #mafia relationship #win! Immediately, Hayato decides he can't let the idiot one up him in anything. Ten minutes later, he has both set up a Student Council account & his own. Sakura loves Google but social media is work with very little payoff. Ino would have thrived. The story time period is vague because I don't want to be limited to early 2000s.
> 
> 3\. I almost split this chapter after 'He'll live' but considering you can't be full on fluff, have a three course meal.
> 
> 4\. Do you think Reborn, as a hitman, would allow pictures to be taken of him? Rationally, he wouldn't. But Reborn's logic is beyond me sometimes.
> 
> 5\. Shipping happens for many reasons, not all of which I understand. Casual reminder that Sakura thinks Iemitsu is dead for years & that Nana should move on. For real though, Team TsuyoshixNana. Who's with me (Sad tho because Iemitsu is actually alive. Wait is that spoilers. Maybe I should kill him off to rectify this).
> 
> 6\. Shamal pulls out french to impress women. It makes him 120% more of a douche but also sometimes it works so..?
> 
> 7\. I've never had a real nosebleed in my life. I take creative liberties with every aspect of this story
> 
> 8\. My beta, wistpossessed, went: 'if the climax is Hayato's convo, Pole Knocking has to be before.' But I had a very specific lead up & Pole Knocking is difficult so I scrapped it & we end with Reborn. A little friction somehow turned into a full-on fight. They actually supposed to talk about many things, but the chap is long enough.
> 
> 9\. Fukukaichou = Vice President (I think). Also, Hayato won that money from his bets.
> 
> 10\. My ideas for this story & your ideas for this story are pretty different. You guys inspire me so tell me what you think will happen or want to see or find lacking in canon or whatever. It can be a rant


	16. Doctor Shamal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, who thought I would be back? Me. There's a plan until chap 27 then we should be worried

A stalemate.

"No, that would imply no further action going forward. This is simply lesson time."

Sakura really hates it when Reborn does that: his uncanny mind-reading ability. She does not believe it, not really, but it is moments like this that make her doubt. She's sitting cross-legged on her bed, eyeing the hitman seated similarly across from her. They are both dressed for bed, Sakura with her long hair flowing freely around her shoulders and Reborn sans his signature fedora.

Night time is commonly meditation time, but Reborn has other plans.

Between them, seven identical glasses are set up with clear, colourless liquid.

"It took me a while to pinpoint it, but now, I am certain," Reborn says. "You've been fighting against the nature of your flames. That is the dumbest thing someone in your position could do."

Sakura's jaw drops, offended, instantly bubbly heat rises within her to leave her as words.

Reborn raises a tiny hand, halting all protests.

"You act like an expert on dying will flames—but you're not. You have barely scratched the surface. The expert sits in front of you. The expert is the doctor you hate so much. You are fumbling in the dark, too stubborn to turn on the lights."

His eyes turn from her to the setup in front of them. Similarly, Sakura's attention also diverts. Reborn continues, "Your goal for this exercise is to not die. All the glasses are poisoned. Only one of them won't kill you. Find that one and drink it, using only your flames. Poison checking is a common skill of Sky users—The basics, actually." He smirks. "Should be a piece of cake, no?"

Sakura huffs, countering, "I don't see why I need to drink any of these."

"Why? Are you scared?" Reborn taunts.

"I'm not _scared_. I just don't see why I have to voluntarily poison myself for your amusement."

"That's alright, Sakura," Reborn placates, fake sincerity dripping from his faux innocent baby-face. "If it's too much for you, I have a much safer, simpler lesson for you."

 _"I didn't say I couldn't handle a little poison,"_ Sakura snarls, grabbing the right most glass. Reborn watches, silent finally, so she gets to work on examining each glass.

No smell. Same viscosity. Too bad she can't taste it without dying. She doesn't even have a poison kit—so unprepared. She tests the solution with the barest of her flames; it doesn't change in any way to indicate the presence of her Sky flames. She lifts the glass—solution a mix of poison and her flames—to the backdrop of her white bedroom light. Not even a tinge of orange—she smirks a little at that, before coming back to herself. There's no point in knowing she can sneakily check for poisons when she can't actually yet check for poison.

Sakura puts down the glass, scrambling off her bed for her water bottle in her bag. Fortunately, there's still a little water. She settles back in bed, her not poisoned water—the control solution—in one hand and a poisoned solution in the other. Using her flames to compare them, she finds though the look similar, they don't feel it. She switches glass and finds three unique solutions.

Alarms ring in the background of her mind.

Frantically, she checks the rest of the glasses. Sure enough, she finds seven different poisoned solutions.

That bastard Reborn, her home tutor from hell.

Instead of using one poison and changing the dosage per glass, he actually went and got seven different physically untraceable poisons. Each and every glass, a different solution. Six different ways to die. All for his entertainment.

Besides being able to differentiate between poison and non-poison, she doesn't yet know how to tell if the poison can kill her yet.

Think. What else can she do? He has got to have given her a clue sometime. He was accusing her earlier—of arrogance... or ignorance? Both? Did he want her to ask him directly for help then? Her eyes flick up, meeting the concentrated stare of her tutor. His face does not give any further sign, but her eyes flick back to the problem in front of her, anyway. No, that can't possibly be the next step.

First, she needs to exhaust all her options on her own. Then she asks for help. That's how Tsunade taught her.

Sakura grinds her teeth, eyes narrowed in a glare. The glasses sit uncaring.

Finally, with no way around it, she thinks back to the core of her fights with Reborn lately. Instantly, irritation boils, defensive but ready. Almost every lesson or chat is harmony this harmony that, Sakura doesn't see the great importance of it all. Obviously, Reborn is wrong. She can heal just fine with her Sky flames. She heals minor bruises and soothes her body's aches nightly. Sure, it's more brute force than the expert finesse she once had, but that could be attributed to the difference between flames and chakra.

The unbearable ache after each healing session must just be from her exhausting most of the flames in her body. When her Byakugou finishes, and storing flames becomes a streamlined background process instead of a conscious forefront action that takes up precious of her concentration, the ache will disappear too. After all, it's normal to ache after expanding energy, isn't it?

—But that's not entirely true.

Sakura's lip purses, her brows scrunching up. She's no longer seeing the glass, switching instead to her fingers with callouses that are still too soft for her liking. She can still remember sharply the feeling of cupping Sun flames in Reborn's hands, of first unlocking her Sky flames and finally _coming_ _home_.

Those first few days were different, weren't they? Back before she connected her Byakugao. Two days of exhausted training, and while her entire body ached, internally there was peace. The Dying Will bullet gave her easy access to her flames and with casual disregard to consequences (and Reborn's violent insistence), she expelled most of it from her body—Careless and free, with no regard of flame output or limitations or anything.

Back then, she didn't feel like she has one foot in her grave already.

What was the difference between then and now?

Was it simply her Byakugou? Straining too much too quickly?

"Can you finish the Dying Will flames in your body? Is it like blood where if you have too little you die?" she asks.

Reborn's eyes assess her, his face wiped clean of emotions. "They heavily depend on emotions, which are linked to determination. This means that they are environmentally influenced, such as health, diet, level of activity. If you have a little, you can always make more, which is not possible for the dead as they can't produce any. Sleeping people and coma patients produce little Dying Will but they also use little. Everyone has flames in their body, but only Dying Will users can manifest this internal energy externally. This leads to sustained production, which strains the body. But no, it doesn't matter how little you have within your body, as long that there is any."

She turns his words over in her mind. If she understands that right, her sustained production is not a big deal. As long as there is always some level of energy within her body.

Then what is the problem?

Was it just the healing—how she used her flames? She doesn't want to think so, but every day the feeling grows stronger. She would have gone forever happily ignoring it, if Reborn wasn't so damn observant and annoying and irritatingly insistent.

"It's because I'm right," Reborn says.

Not. Now. Reborn.

"Get to the point already, Sakura."

Sakura does, by pushing her flames once again into the glass, this time unfiltered and raw. It boils. Now there's an idea. If she evaporates all the water, she won't have to drink anything—which would be a pipe dream, Sakura knows Reborn can whip up more. She dials back her flames, letting it sit aimlessly floating through the solution, mimicking the flames within her body.

Wait.

It could not be that easy.

Could it?

She opens her senses, picking up the fiery presence within her body. The flow within her body is unusual, uneven as it was with the flames produced in the middle of her forehead almost instantly disappearing. The other production checkpoint then works over time, supplying her flames for her entire body. This would be fine usually, but the brain in itself is an active factor in Dying Will production, at times using or supplying vast amounts of flames, fluctuating wildly with her moods. The rest of the flames within the body wait on her.

Not unlike how it is inside the poisoned solution in her hand right now.

Harmony Reborn has been harping on about.

And so she focuses on the harmony aspect within her flames.

Even though it's the same flames, same quantity and quality, within different mediums, they act differently. Harmonising flames within her body (from any area besides her head) and within the solution doesn't work.

Well, it does, only when she powers through—But not seamlessly.

She could work with that.

It is not a moment more than she arranges the glasses in a line in accordance to seamless integration. There's a definite line between what her flames like to harmonise with and what they would just because she forces it too. There are four glasses that her flames do not like at all, preferring to boil the solution rather than harmonise with it. For the other three glasses, her flames act as reluctant workers, dragging their feet and putting on a show of great reluctance. It's actually a little amusing.

Of those three glasses, the one that her Sky flames like most would be difficult to discern on a normal user, but she is Sawada Sakura—previously Haruno—and tricky, minute details like that which helps distinguish her as an elite medic nin.

She singles that glass out, meeting Reborn's gaze and daring him to tell her she's wrong.

All he does in return is raise an eyebrow.

Sakura downs the glass in one shot.

..

* * *

..

"I hate you," Sakura groans, turning restlessly to her other side. Fever has wracked her body on and off for the last two days before finally settling just as her immune system finally picks up momentum. Even so, her limbs are sweaty, her mind hazy with thick clouds, and her body aches even when she lies still in bed. In her previous life, it would be a minor matter to filter intoxicants out of her body, but the fact of it is that her control over her flames is still subpar. She hates to admit it, but they are barely handling the constant cycling into her Byakugou, nevermind this new—never before seen—poison. If she was familiar with its general composition, she could guide her body's responses, but frustratingly this world is much larger than her old one with a whole plethora of plants she has not yet gotten to intimately know. It's both exciting and frustrating.

Basically, she feels like shit, she couldn't do anything about it currently, and it's all Reborn's fault.

"Good job, Sakura. Poison detection & reflection is an attribute of a great mafia boss, particularly self-reflection," Reborn says in his pyjamas once more; this time it is pastel pink with large white polka dots and a matching cotton nightcap. He's not settled in his usual corner, instead setting up a foldaway bed nearer to her height and vicinity so she can easily blame him for everything wrong in her life without raising her voice higher than a whisper.

Sometimes he can be really considerate like that.

Mostly, he's doesn't care.

His words register sluggishly after a few beats, sitting sour on her tongue. Has Reborn reflected a day in his life? She doesn't think so.

"I constantly reflect on which training methods would suit you best."

Sakura groans once more, extra annoying, in protest. She discards the idea of puking into the wastebasket, even though it would serve him right.

"You wouldn't be like this if you just let Shamal heal you."

Sakura groans again, though not because she aches. "Not Shamal."

"Shamal is your designated doctor," Reborn counters, not for the last time. "There's hardly anyone, in Vongola or out of it, who could do better. And he does it all despite being a Mist user. If nothing else, shouldn't that make you curious?"

It's not that Sakura isn't curious, or doubts his ability. She believes he is in fact perfectly capable. Capable and a complete pervert—Kakashi, Jiraiya, _Anko_ —she's seen the type.

Sakura would have been content to ignore Reborn from that point on, but of course he makes that impossible. "Next to Sun flames, Mist flames are the best for healing," he continues, a concession; both to bribe and placate her. "Though more suited in the short-term, it often serves as a stop-gap into a more permanent solution. Illusions, no matter how strong, still aren't real. Without constant thought and flow, they will disappear. That's why the focus of a Mist user is often unparalleled. After Mist, Rain and Lightning flames would each serve specific uses, while the effects of Sky flames are currently unknown. Storm and Cloud flames, when applied medically, often do more harm than good."

Her brows furrow in confusion. "I thought your friend..?"

" _My acquaintance's_ use of Cloud flames is a special case. Nobody else can heal like he does; as in terms of Cloud flames, his are purest."

It's a mix of intuition and experience that makes her decide that Storm and Cloud flame users often lack control. Medical chakra too does more damage than necessary when applied straight but with no finesse. It's such a shame, disintegration and propagation are such handy characteristics.

What flames do Hayato have? Reborn never told her. It's not Sky, & probably not Sun either. That leaves five other possible flame types. It doesn't matter really, she still must train him to sharpen his control. After she gets her own control in check, that is.

That reminds her.

"Reborn-sensei," Sakura begins, before rolling onto her back and staring into the dark ceiling, "Will Gokudera-kun's father be a problem?"

"Why would it?" Sakura's gaze falls onto Reborn in disbelief. He's lying down, hands behind his head with his gaze directed to the ceiling above, which irks her for he could at least pretend he's giving her all his attention or act the slightest bit remorseful for poisoning her. "He would be ecstatic to hear if Gokudera became a Guardian. It is a great honour after all."

"Ah." She doesn't understand. "Are we allies?"

"No, but they are not enemies. Next to Vongola, any famiglia is wanting. For them, this is climbing the mafia ladder."

She lets that sink in, mulling over it thoughtfully. "But Gokudera-kun hates them?"

"Wouldn't matter. It's an in they would be foolish to ignore."

..

* * *

..

"Here, Jyuudaime, I've got your water."

"Thank you, Gokudera-kun."

Sakura takes it, laces her flames through it to check for poison and then, finding none, drinks it. Reborn gives her a knowing look. She does not acknowledge this. This means nothing, and Reborn knows it, she's taken to checking if Nana's cooking is poisoned too. It's a good habit to get back into.

"You don't have to be here every time Reborn-sensei and I train," she says, "especially since you could do better things with your time." Like his homework, for example. He hasn't yet handed in a single one. The teachers are becoming frustratingly resigned.

Once again, all three of them are in a secluded area of the park, quite close by to where she thought Reborn was going to kill her for the second time, actually.

"I'm sorry you had to waylaid Takeshi again. I feel bad, but it's for the best." You think since Takeshi is back to his two hours after-school club practice that he would have less time to wiggle into the crazy shenanigans of Reborn, but no, it seems to only spurs him on.

At least, he's no longer overworking himself. Tsuyoshi and Kiyano has been extra vigilant in their reports to her. They have been keeping her updated on the situation, though she's only asked once. Personally, Sakura thinks Takeshi has learned his lesson quite well. He's not the type to repeat mistakes, even a second time. But she can understand the adults' need, she too observes Takeshi carefully but with a lot more subtlety.

Hayato waves his hand. "It's no problem. Yamamoto needs more help in the restaurant lately. So I told the baseball idiot that if the restaurant was declining, it would be his fault. He didn't like that." Hayato shrugs unbothered. "But if you never want him near again, he can go to hell."

Sakura hides her face with her face towel, partially to wipe off sweat, but mostly because the face she's making would give Hayato extreme anxiety. She's this close to simply screaming into it.

She doesn't know if it's because Team A, under Hayato's leadership, lost the Pole Knocking (and therefore placed second overall) or that he decided that baring vulnerability in front of her was a mistake, but it seems lately that it's been one step forward, two steps back with Hayato. Instead of being more open (or at least more amiable to the possibility of being open), he falls back to only caring for her needs and wants, and keeping anything too personal behind thick cement walls.

Furthermore, his friendship with Takeshi, non-existent or otherwise, has taken a meaner edge.

No matter how long she deliberates on how to fix this, she still comes up with nothing.

"If you feel bad, why don't you explain it to Yamamoto and let him decide?" a high-pitched voice interrupts, faux innocently.

Sakura shoots Reborn a dirty look around her towel. She knows his game, and she won't fall for it. "He shouldn't be making life decisions at fourteen," she snaps.

 _"I swear I'll bring him back! On my life!"_ flows like a lingering curse. She aggressively squishes it, before Reborn can read more from her face than she wanted him too.

Is it too late to go around like Kakashi?—No, she changes her mind. Who knows how sanitary that mask is? Simple answer is: Never enough.

Reborn's corresponding stare makes her to be the root cause of stupidity.

Smartly, she changes the subject. "Gokudera-kun, do you mind if I use you as a subject to practice healing? I want to soothe someone else's pain, starting small with any aches or pulled muscles. It would differ from healing myself, so I want to gauge my skill level." Hayato's eyebrows pull his face down, hesitance clear. Sakura rushes to reassure him, "It's okay if you're not comfortable with that, it might feel like my flames are invading yours, since you are flame-active, so you would most probably notice the disruption. I will, of course, stop immediately if you feel pain or if it just too uncomfortable for you."

Despite his unspoken reservation, Hayato agrees, "I—Of course! It's no problem! What do I do?"

"Sit down with your shirt off. Yeah, that'll be fine," Sakura says, barely blinking with the way he hurries to follow her commands, bearing his back to her. Even so, his shoulders are still tense, his fist clenching slightly with nerves. "It's fine if you don't want to. I don't want to force you to do anything you're uncomfortable with."

Hayato relaxes his shoulders, but she knows it is mostly a show for her. "No, this is fine. This is nothing."

Sakura knows it's bad for her to even think of taking advantage of a patient, especially when it's clear to her, he's not 100% comfortable with this. But the fact of the matter is that she needs to practice on someone else—Someone flame-active, flame-dormant, on animals, humans, herself; they don't all react the same.

Impulsively, her eyes flickers to Reborn; and at his nod, she steels her heart.

It's fine. Hayato is probably only worried because it's the first time someone has done this to him. She is not sure what's the protocol for healing with flames, besides what Reborn mentioned about Sun's inherent healing properties.

Even now, something fundamental inside Sakura rebels at the thought that she could no longer heal others. Years of her life—It can't all have been a waste. After all, chakra was not inherently healing—you had to have control to change it into healing chakra.

Sakura kneels, placing her hands on Gokudera-kun's back. She'll make it so he has nothing to worry about, painless and quick, he wouldn't even notice her intrusion. Letting her flames seep seamlessly into his body, she gets to work. Her hands are steady, there is no glow—green, orange or otherwise.

Almost immediately, her eyebrows pull together, her mouth set in a frown. She disregards any further plans for a simple routine inspection and clean-up.

Her eyes cut to Reborn, demanding silence. Eerily observant as he is, he hasn't failed to notice her change in demeanour, but he goes along, if only to see what happens next.

Thankfully, Hayato remains ignorant, and her voice doesn't betray her as she asks lightly, "How is your job at the convenience store? Is the owner still scared of you?"

Hayato snorts, and his body (along with Sakura's hands) starts with it. "He's just an old man with no backbone, nothing to worry about. Lately, I've been badgering him for more shifts. The ones I have now have the least traffic."

"Is there a problem with that?" Sakura asks, curious.

"No, I don't care. It's less work for me, and I can just sleep in class the next day. It's decent pay, but I'll need extra to buy supplies for this new bomb I'm experimenting with."

The topic of money, more specifically Hayato's money, brings her to the memory of his apartment when she practically demanded to see it. He did not like it, grumbling and trying to lead her away with a billion and one excuses, before eventually giving in. She was right; it was in a poor neighbourhood, with a known yakuza hideout just down the street. The apartment itself was on the first floor, tiny and worn with age. The windows wouldn't lock properly and the door barely looked like it could hang on its hinges. Inside was not much better. Hayato owns one futon and a table, with everything else deemed unnecessary. Though clean and liveable, it was noticeably old with stains on the wooden floorboard which could be spilled drinks or old blood. The kitchen was just as bare, with only one glass and cutlery but no bowls. The bathroom was cramped with barely enough room to turn in a circle. Sakura didn't need to ask to know that Hayato would have needed to spend hours scrubbing the mould from the walls and floor when he moved in.

Takeshi was there too, tagging along as he often does lately. While Sakura was falling steeper into simply begging Hayato to stay at her place again (and probably sending him into just as foul a mood as the first time), all Takeshi said was, "So what was the price before and after you threatened the landlord?"

It was the first time that Sakura doubted Takeshi's social awareness.

But then, Hayato scoffed, kicking his shoes off and sitting around the desk. Takeshi follows closely, already pulling out the customary sushi gift, and setting it out to share. Hayato bragged at how dirt cheap he swindled the landlord for, with Takeshi making suitably impressed noises. Easily, they lead the conversation as she slowly joined them. Her mind preoccupied with other things, such as how easily Takeshi got Hayato relax.

"A new bomb?" Sakura says, refocusing on the conversation, "I think you should invest in a better futon first and a heater for winter months. The prices are lowest now since it's summer."

"Don't worry, Jyuudaime! Shamal is supposed to bring my stuff over from Italy. But he's been 'busy.'" Hayato air quotes.

Sakura sighs but says no more on it. "How do you know Shamal? You address him so familiarly."

"Oh, I've known him since I was a child. He used to come over to my house, for family business, with a different woman hanging on his arm. Every time I asked who she was, he said it was his sister. I counted 229 sisters before I started to catch on."

Sakura swallows a laugh, caught between many emotions—disgust at Shamal, disbelief at Hayato, amusement at the objectively outrageous situation—but overwhelming all that is the image of a much younger Hayato, who was so gullible he believed Shamal of all people. _He would've been so cute._

Sakura hums in sympathy, though she couldn't stop her smile from spreading across her face.

Apparently, complaining about Shamal comes easy to him because the stories keep coming.

After a long thirty minutes since the start of her healing session, she finally deigns to detach her hands.

"How does that feel Gokudera-kun? I hope it wasn't too uncomfortable. You were a model patient." She smiles when he turns around. His cheeks flush red at the praise.

"No, it was fine. It was like a warm wave. You were amazing! I barely felt it! Also, my muscles definitely feel better than before."

"I'm glad. I didn't really heal anything, in the sense of active repair. It's more like I help reinforce tearing muscles and encourage them to do the rest." It's not a perfect technique, since it relies more on her harmony factor and syncing between cells. But it is useful in minor techniques and even in meditation.

"That's similar to healing with Sun flames," Reborn says.

"Is it?" Sakura hums. "That's interesting. If I was more familiar with my flames, it would not take as long. But I guess that's what practice is for, right?"

Hayato escorts them home before flouncing back to his own. Sakura waves him off like normal.

..

* * *

..

Sakura wakes in the middle of the night, an hour after she is sure her mother went to bed. She hasn't really been sleeping, merely waiting in bed. It's dark, the waxing crescent moon giving the barest of light through her window. Reborn's shadowed figure blows a sleeping bubble in his corner, in time with his breaths. Dressing quickly and simply, she leaps quietly from her window to the backyard before taking off down the street.

She did not have to wait long.

"Where are we going?" Reborn's high-pitched voice is the perfect mix between curiosity and childishness. What an actor.

"Could you call Shamal and tell him we're coming? Also tell him to get rid of his company if he has any." Reborn doesn't raise his eyebrow but she can feel his desire for knowledge like a knife to her side. She apologises with her eyes, for she knows how he hates being ordered around. "I'll explain when we reach there. I don't want to explain twice."

That settles him for now. Reborn is a contradiction, patient and impatient at the same time. But she knows he can tell she is not lying, at least. She hasn't found it necessary to lie to him yet.

..

* * *

..

"Oh? If its not the young Vongola." Shamal leans back on his bed on his elbows, shirtless. His pyjama bottom hangs low on his hips, showing his hipbones. "What ever do you need?" he drawls, eyes half-lidded. The mostly romantic lighting of the hotel room highlights the stretching muscles of his abdomen.

He's truly a disgusting man, for making such an obvious ploy on her hormones.

A fit, disgusting man.

"Does Gokudera-kun know?"

He lifts an eyebrow leisurely, a smirk curling the side of his mouth. "Know?" His voice is low and earthy, a deep rumble from his chest. He has a lot of nerve to use that tone on her with Reborn right here.

"About the chemistry between us?" he asks. His smouldering eyes alight on her with a mischievousness she has no time for.

"About his illness."

It happens in an instant, faster than breathing. His eyes losing their teasing glint, gaining a harder seriousness. His mouth flattening into a neutral expression. This is a man who is finally taking her seriously, and she revels in it—being in the presence of professionals even when the telltale current of nervousness runs up her back.

It's stubborn pride that makes her deliberately not change her posture.

His calculating dark eyes scan her up and down now, in a manner he didn't when she first entered, as if dissecting her under a microscope. "How did you find out?" he asks, clinically detached.

"I ran my flames through his system."

"Just like that?" Shamal, tone disbelieving, raises an eyebrow incredulously.

"I'm good," Sakura says.

"Well, the other doctors were good too—the best even—but it still couldn't save his mother."

His face might be relaxed and his voice flippant, but she knows like a sixth instinct that this is a bitter man.

She sees it in herself, in her dreams, in her brown eyes that she still can't believe are hers.

She could recognise it anywhere, in anyone else.

Shamal continues, "He has 15 years, give or take, without factoring in his flames. I hoped for him to have Sun flames but considering he has Storm..." Shamal shakes his head slightly, hair waving. "He might have less than that even."

"Let me help." Sakura's mind is made, just as her resolute as her decision to join the mafia. She will save Hayato, with or without Shamal's help.

"I've tried everything." He brushes her offer aside, helping himself to some alcohol he kept on the bedside table. "What could you offer that I haven't thought of yet?" His words are belittling but Sakura could see, even as he hides it, how exhausted he is.

This is not a man who has any hope left to hold on too.

Her eyes catch his. "It can't hurt to try."

After a weighed moment, Shamal sighs dramatically and long. "Sure. Why not?"

He pops open a capsule containing one of his infamous mosquitos, and she follows it as it unlocks one of his briefcases. He shrugs at her attention. "Hayato is a nosy punk." Sakura grudgingly smiles at that, remembering the day he broke into her Student Council room to complete her paperwork. He slides the briefcase across his fancy hotel table and she digs in to find it full of his notes, current research and his latest theories. She thought his demeanour was of a man who has long given up, but his methodology says otherwise. All the information is kept current.

She may not respect him as a person, but she could respect this.

She dives into the work like a woman possessed.

Later on, Sakura blinks away her complete focus. Glancing at the sky outside and then her phone, she finds that it is already three a.m. Considering she wakes at five to fit in Reborn's hellish morning run, shower, breakfast and then Student Council work, she needs to head back immediately. She glances down at her notes that thankfully she did not automatically write in her personal code— _'you can never be too careful,' Tsunade says_ —deciding to leave it here so Hayato does not accidentally stumble on it. It's covered with her own notes and theories and background information Shamal and Reborn occasionally needed to explain to her. She's not an expert on flames yet, but she has the experience healing and that could be applied interdisciplinary.

"I need to go," she says.

"I'll have more information tonight," Shamal says. Sakura sees him rise from his own research focus on the chair across from hers. He's reading one of her note pages and another research paper. She wonders what connections he makes in his head.

"So soon?" she asks, caught in a yawn. It's been a long day.

"I'll pull a few strings."

She nods, blinking tears away. Without saying anything, Reborn takes her home, and besides a hard wake up, the day goes like normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Sorry this took so long. I'm a perfectionist you see. I know it's mostly filler build-up but it also signals an important departure from canon. I am glad you guys are so patient & I wish you the best. That said, next chap is a doozy (to write & feelings-wise). No promises it'll be out on time.
> 
> 2\. Am I ignoring the Takeshi problem? No. Sakura is. It's more in character to build it up until she can't ignore it anymore because ppl procrastinate/avoid. Also have some priority, Hayato is literally dying. If all goes to plan, wait for chap 26
> 
> 3\. Don't you hate in Middle School how you have to clench fist solve your friend's incurable illness? (Sorry I was digging through khr tumblr)
> 
> 4\. Damn, you know what give me some competent Shamal. He is too easy to write. Literally, everybody else is harder. Tho in this one he has little screen time despite the title. Plus, its also the only time it would be in character to write a seduction/sexy scene—All due to your least favourite pervert mosquito doctor. The last scene (& Dame-Sakura) are among first scenes written
> 
> 5\. Nana implores Reborn to sleep elsewhere so she could nurse Sakura to health (also worrying he'll fall sick). Reborn says no, saying its his duty as her home tutor. So considerate, Nana coos. In the background, Sakura groans
> 
> 6\. Since I accidently gave Lee a promise of a lifetime, I had to reword Naruto's differently but it's the same gist.
> 
> 7\. Reborn is stuck between hyping up his fellow Arcobaleno & tearing down his lackey. In the end, cold hard facts win. He's technically not the strongest cloud user as he's not a fighter. Spoilers: Martial Artist Fon & Stuntman Skull has the best internal flame control among the Arcobaleno, due to their extra fine body control.
> 
> 8\. If I confuse you with my flame lore logic, welp join the club. It isn't written with the best clarity but sometimes you just gotta write bad to write at all. Also, earlier plan was one plain water but then Sakura could cheat with her Intuition so. Is there that many colourless, smelless poisons? I don't know it's fiction. Sakura was so proud that she found the answer that she forgot that drinking poison is Bad

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Generally, the first & last 2 points of endnotes are important. The rest can be skipped according to mood & daily horoscope.
> 
> 2\. Tell me why you liked it. I personally love long comments. It is because I too cannot shut up.
> 
> 3\. Betas wanted. Comment with your email if you interested. (I will delete them after I email you or you can edit it yourself after I email you.) I would still love constructive criticism if you not interested just review.


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